The Tanaka House Terror
by DValdez
Summary: Mai and the SPR gang take on a job to investigate a huge mansion way out in the middle of nowhere. They get in all right, but just a few hours in, things take a dangerous turn when they realize the house isn't keen on letting them go. Demons, dark, creepy hallways, a handsome but jerky boss - will Mai get the team, herself, and her heart out in one piece?
1. A Little Bit Lost

**Hi guys! This is my first fanfiction here, so if I missed anything or made any mistakes, feel free to point me in the right direction and/or tell me what's wrong. Here we go!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. If I did, Gene would appear in Mai's dreams a little more.**

* * *

Mai straightened with much difficulty, trying to balance a monitor atop the two large cardboard boxes she was supposed to be carrying into Mr. Tanaka's mansion. The monitor began tipping dangerously to the side, and Mai's eyes went wide as she helplessly watched it sway sideways.

Quick as a whip, a pale, long-fingered hand shot out and neatly caught it. Mai let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks."

Naru set the monitor onto Monk's stack of boxes. "Just don't break my equipment."

"I'm sure insurance will cover it!" Mai shot back acidly, remembering how he had tricked her into working for him back when she had first broke his camera. Why couldn't he just be nice? She had said thanks after all!

But Naru had moved on to the next person. He handed Masako her stack of equipment, completely ignoring what Mai yelled at him. With a huff, Mai turned around, determined not think about him.

"C'mon, Mai!" Monk called from the door.

"Coming!"

The mansion was, of course, huge. It had a large, hotel-like lobby and living room, endless hallways, and countless rooms. Paintings of people in old-fashioned clothes lined the walls and ornate furniture lay covered in dust here and there. Some rooms were fully furbished, while others were completely empty. Everything was covered in a layer of dust.

Mai suddenly bumped into Monk. She hadn't been watching where they were going at all. She had only been following Monk's back, not that she could see much past her stack of boxes.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Nothing, nothing," he murmured and looked around slowly. "Um…"

Mai knew that look. She had it on her own face more often than she cared to admit. "Monk, are we lost?"

"No, of course not!" Monk protested. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and glanced inside a random room nearby. He frowned.

"It's okay if you got us lost, Monk," Mai said, smiling behind her boxes.

"No, I swear I knew where I was going. Mr Tanaka just told me to go up the stairs, turn left, and then take a right at the end of the hallway. Our room would be the third one on the left."

"So did you do that?"

"Yeah… Well, I took a right at the end of the hallway but there were no rooms in the short hallway that followed, so I turned when it turned left at the end and it came back to the top of the stairs. Then I'm pretty sure I took a left like I was supposed to but at the end of the hallway, there was only one left, and now…" Monk frowned and scratched his head. He set the boxes down and looked around. "I'm pretty sure the hallway turned right the first time. And we've definitely been here before."

"Monk, that doesn't make any sense," said Mai, giggling. He was definitely lost. "You can admit it if you don't know where you're going."

"I _do_ know where we're going," he insisted. He picked up the boxes and began walking again. Mai sighed and had no choice but to follow him.

Two minutes later they were back at the top of the stairs.

"Okay, I'm lost," Monk admitted in defeat.

"You said Mr. Tanaka told you to go left, then right?"

"Yeah. I even wrote it on my hand. See?"

Mai didn't tell him she couldn't see because his hand was under the box. "Okay. Just...do it again, then."

"Again? I've done this three times!"

"Just one more time. I'll pay attention this time, too."

"Fine, but this is the last time. If we end up at the stairs again, I'm going back to the van. My arms are killing me."

Now that Mai was paying attention, her skin began to crawl. She hated huge, empty houses. They always felt so deserted she thought she was going to be sick. She began humming a silly, bouncy tune to distract herself.

They turned left and then right, just as they were supposed to. Three rooms down, they opened the door to find Lin inside, setting up computers and monitors.

"See, Monk? The room's right here. You probably just took a wrong turn somewhere," Mai said, setting down the boxes and rubbing her sore arms. She felt bad for making Monk carry her monitor, but consoled herself with the fact that he had seven inches and forty pounds on her.

"You two got lost as well?" Masako asked, making Mai jump.

"Where did you come from?" she asked. "Were you behind us?"

"No." Masako set her boxes down on a table. "I actually got lost and after a bit of wandering I found myself in this hall. I heard you and came in."

"Who's blocking the door?" came a grumble.

"Naru!" Mai exclaimed, their icy exchange of words forgotten. "Did you get lost, too?"

Naru gave Lin his boxes. "No. Why would I get lost? And where are Miss Matsuzaki and John? They left the van before me."

"Well," said Mai. "We all got lost. I guess they did too."

"You were simply supposed to go up, left, right. How could anyone get lost?" Naru murmured.

"Lin, did you get lost on your way up here?" Mai asked, determined to prove Naru wrong. Who did he think he was, degrading them all like that?"

"I did," came the brief reply.

Naru frowned. Mai thought he was going to give them all an explanation for it, but he promptly sat down and began typing on his computer.

Ayako then burst into the room, groaning about her arm. John was close behind. "UGH!" she yelled. "What is _wrong_ with Mr. Tanaka? It is _not_ up, left, right. It's up, right, right, left!"

"Naru, are you sure you went up, left, right?" Monk asked.

"Yes. What else would I do?"

"Well," Mai said. "Everyone seemed to have followed the same directions and gotten lost except for you...but then again, Monk and I took a left and right the third time and…" Wait. Had she just proved Naru right? She had to stop talking so much!

"Exactly," he said smugly. "It's a big house. If you don't follow directions carefully, you're bound to get lost."

They all looked at each other. Masako said, "Maybe there are two staircases. Maybe there's one on either side and everyone was going left and right from the wrong one."

"But why are there two staircases? And how'd we get to the second one?" Mai asked. She hadn't been paying that much attention, but she was sure there had only been one staircase.

 _"We_ didn't get lost!" Ayako insisted. "We went left, then right, didn't we, John?"

John, ever trying to avoid any sort of conflict, looked uncomfortable. "Well, yes, but we could've gotten disoriented, I guess."

"See, Naru? Even John says so!" Ayaki threw herself on the couch. "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon!"

"Why don't we all have dinner now?" Masako broke in. Mai quietly fumed as the beautiful medium glanced at Naru. Was she trying to get on his good side by saving his butt from an argument?

"Sure," said Naru. "If you can all get to the kitchen without getting lost. While you do that, Lin and I will be getting some actual work done."

Mai smiled inwardly at Masako's speechlessness. If she had been in that spot, she would've yelled right back at him, but that was not in Masako's nature.

"Oh, all right," Ayako groaned. "We'll help you get your stupid computers set up, but we're doing the other equipment tomorrow."

After setting up the monitors, they all went down to the kitchen, never taking one wrong turn. By this time, Mai was beginning to believe Masako's theory that there was another staircase on the other side of the second floor that they had accidentally gone up. Mr. Tanaka was nowhere to be seen, but there was a note directing them to the fridge and cupboards. After dinner, they collectively went upstairs and divided into the two adjacent rooms cleaned just for them. It wasn't long before Mai's eyes began to feel heavy and she fell asleep.

When she opened her eyes, Gene was standing in front of her.

"Gene!" she squealed, and threw her arms around him. Though she was saddened by the fact that he wasn't moving on, she was always thrilled to see him.

"Hey, Mai." He disentangled himself from her arms. "What's up?"

"Well, I am about to be worked to death again! We have to set up all the cameras and mics today." Mai looked around. "But never mind about that. Where're we going?"

"I need to show you something," Gene said.

They came to a large building. "Oh, this is the Tanaka mansion," Mai told Gene.

Gene nodded wordlessly. They entered and began walking up the stairs. At the top, Gene tried to lead her to the right, and though Mai wanted to go the same way, she hesitated.

"Aren't we supposed to go up, left, right?"

Gene looked at her. "What do you feel like?"

"Me-?"

"Come on, Mai. You know better. Go where you think you should go."

Mai turned left, as Gene had first told her. She turned into a long hallway and then looked back to ask him what to do next, but he wasn't there anymore.

 _I'm right here, Mai._

Mai jumped a little and looked around, but he wasn't there. It was as if… he was speaking from inside of her?

 _Keep going._

He led her up one hallway and down another, right, right, left, right, down, right. Finally, she came to an empty hallway with only one door.

 _Go inside._

Mai pushed open the door to find a small library. Was it important?

 _Yes, but you have to go. It is getting suspicious._

"What? What is?"

But the dream faded away.

* * *

 **So how was it? Good? Bad? Eh?**

 **The goal is to update at least once a week, so...**

 **For next time: A little conversation with Naru, breakfast, and extreme nausea.**


	2. A Lot Nauseous

**Hey, guys! I did estimate that I would update once a week, but I have the first few chapters typed up already, and these first two were short and mostly filler anyways, so here's the next one.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. If I did, Mai and Naru would have more random private conversations.**

* * *

"Wake up, Mai!" shouted a voice in Mai's ear. "WAKE UP, LAZY GIRL!"

Mai groaned loudly and rolled over to see a blur of red hair through her half-shut eyes.

"Ha!" Ayako crowed in triumph. "That got her up."

"No," she groaned, and shoved her head under her pillow, trying to block out the sound of Ayako's voice.

"God, Mai, are you always this difficult in the morning?"

Masako's voice broke in. "I was under the impression that she was always difficult."

"Masako…" Mai rolled over, too sleepy to fight anyone. "Just shut up, please."

Ayako managed to pull her out of bed and shove her into the bathroom, throwing in her duffle bag after her. "Naru said he wants tea in five minutes!" she yelled at her after she closed the door.

Mai mumbled some nasty things about both Naru and Ayako, and threw in some stuff about Masako for good measure. Only after she remembered Gene and her dream did she feel a little remorse and decide to do Gene some kindness by helping his idiot scientist brother with his tea addiction.

She pulled on a dark blue sweatshirt over her purple t-shirt, clean jeans, and her white tennis shoes. After running a comb haphazardly through her short hair, she went back to the girls' bedroom. On finding it empty, she threw her duffle bag in the corner and went to find the kitchen.

Last night, Naru had lead them left, right, down the stairs, right, right, left, right to get to the kitchen for dinner. Today, as Mai got to the first turn, Gene spoke to her.

 _Right._

Mai threw all caution to the wind and turned right. After all, the worst that could happen was she could get lost and call for help, and she did that routinely regardless.

Mai followed Gene's voice up one hallway and down the next, down the stairs and past large galleries until she reached the kitchen. Naru was sitting at the table, writing in his black, leather book.

"Good morning!" she said cheerfully hoping to elicit a similar reply. She was so full of energy after finding her way safely down that she was having a hard time restraining herself from throwing her arms around him.

Naru grunted.

"Fine, then!" she huffed and threw herself into a chair. "I hope you have a horrible morning!" Mai looked around. "Where is everyone?"

"Probably lost," Naru responded dryly. "I'm surprised you're here on time."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Mai snapped. She glared at him and itched to kick him under the table.

"It means you should make tea."

"Jerk!"

Naru showed no sign of anger and did not reply, and Mai rolled her eyes. Why did she ever expect to soften him as time went by? Here they were, almost a year later, and he was still the same, collected, uninterested, passive person who had tricked her into working for him.

But he _had_ given her a very generous paycheck.

"Naru?" Mai asked. They were alone. It was a good time to talk about her dream. She began taking out pots and looking for tea in the cupboards.

Naru didn't reply, but Mai went on. She knew she had gotten his attention.

"Is it possible for a spirit to talk to latent psychics outside of their dreams?"

Naru looked up. "Are you getting voices from someone, Mai?"

Mai suddenly wondered if he would be angry. She paused and leaned on the counter and desperately hoped that someone would walk in through the kitchen door.

Obviously, no one did.

"Mai?" Naru repeated.

"Gene."

"What?"

"Gene… showed me a dream last night. I don't-I don't really know what he was saying, but… " Mai tried to get her thoughts to come out sounding sane. "He lead me up the stairs and we were supposed to go right, like you said, to go to base, but he said left, and it worked."

Naru raised an eyebrow.

"And then, well-" Mai stumbled over the words. Her face was red and she was thoroughly embarrassed for no reason. "And then this morning I woke up to come down here and I was going to turn left like I was supposed to, but then he-he spoke to me and he said to go right instead, and I went right and - and -"

"And?"

"And I… didn't get lost…" Mai scratched her neck and tried to drown herself in the tea in front of her. She set it before Naru quickly so she wouldn't have to look at him and then shoved herself into the fridge to look for eggs.

She thought Naru was probably staring at her in confusion or degradation or both, but he only murmured, "Interesting," and when she turned around, he was writing in his black book again.

John arrived first, looking confused. He took a seat at the table. "Shibuya, I think we need to get a set of blueprints from Mr. Tanaka."

"Mmmm." Naru continued to write in his notebook.

Mai stuck out her tongue at him behind his back and John smiled indulgently. Since no one else seemed to be coming, he stood to help her make breakfast.

Five minutes later, Masako and Ayako came in, muttering about faulty directions. Mai saw Naru make a new note in his notebook as she set a bowl of beans in front of him. Lin and Monk arrived last, Lin silently bearing Monk's rants.

After Mai and John had served eggs and bean soup, they sat at the table to eat. As Mai began digging in, however, a horrible feeling overcame her. She set her chopsticks back down, feeling too nauseous to think about eating.

Masako stood up. Her face was white and she swayed a little on her feet. "I'll be right back," she whispered faintly.

"Masako!" Ayako cried as the medium fell.

Naru stood up and caught her in one fluid motion. Mai felt too sick all of a sudden to be jealous of Masako, however. She put her head down and tried to focus on breathing in clean air.

Ayako must've looked over her because she announced, "She's fine, just fainted."

"But why did she faint like that?" Monk asked and shoved half a fried egg in his mouth.

Mai grimaced and said, "I don't know, Monk, but if you keep eating, I think _I'm_ going to puke."

Monk frowned and stopped chewing. "Are you - are you going to faint, too?"

"I said I'm going to PUKE! Now keep your mouth shut! I don't feel too good."

At that point, the door opened, and a fresh wave of nausea overcame Mai. She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her forehead to the table and focused on sucking in shallow breaths. She felt a little lightheaded.

An arm came around her shoulders. "Mai, are you okay?" Monk whispered.

"Fine," she lied.

"Good morning!" called a voice Mai vaguely registered as Mr. Tanaka's. There was a slight pause. "What's happened to these two young ladies?"

"They don't feel too good," John replied, "but I'm sure they'll be fine in a moment. Would you like some breakfast?" he asked, tactfully steering the conversation away from Masako and Mai.

"Thank you, but I have already eaten," Mr. Tanaka assured him. He glanced at Mai and Masako again. "Are you sure those two don't need any professional help?"

Ayako cleared her throat. "I _am_ a professional, if you must know."

"Oh." Mr. Tanaka turned a little pink. "I...um, didn't realize." He hurried on. "Please tell me if you need anything. I will be in my study on the first floor. It's right under the stairs. Good day."

He closed the door behind him.

The dizziness slowly subsided until Mai felt well enough to sit up in her seat. John placed a cup of tea in front of her and Masako, who had woken up after Mr. Tanaka left.

Mai took a scalding sip that jolted her back to her senses. She saw Naru writing in his notebook.

"Naru…" she said. "There's something wrong with Mr. Tanaka."

"There are spirits attached to him," Masako confirmed. She took a sip of her own tea and coughed delicately. Mai wanted to hit her beautiful face. Why did she look so pretty after fainting? And why was she the one who could speak in flowery sentences while all she could do was lamely ramble on and on?

"Don't you want to ask him any questions?" Monk asked.

"I already did," Naru replied. "He doesn't know much. When he called, he could only say he was worried that some demon was possessing the house. He sent me an image of a strange symbol he once saw in the basement that I have found is related to demonic activity. Yesterday, Mr. Tanaka could tell me no more than that except that he had recently inherited the house."

"Then why are there spirits attached to him?" Ayako asked.

Naru didn't answer, as was his custom to do so when he got tired of answering questions. He abruptly stood up and left the room. Lin went after him.

Mai rolled her eyes. "And there he goes. His Royal Highness is tired of answering questions and decides that he cannot tolerate us lowly servants any longer."

Monk laughed. "What's gotten into you?"

"I don't know." Mai herself was a little surprised. She had gotten used to Naru's sudden disappearances, and although she still got annoyed, she had learned to accept them. "I guess I just feel kind of snappy after the nausea."

"Makes sense. You want to go up and rest for a bit? Ayako and I will clean up."

"Then help me, you lazy bum!" Ayako yelled at him. "If you're going to volunteer yourself, I'M in charge!"

* * *

 **So...what do you think? Reviews are appreciated!**

 **This is the last background/filler chapter. After this, I promise things will start to happen.**

 **For next time: Missing mics, attacks on various SPR members, and a deep, black hole.**


	3. A Really Dark Hole

**Hi guys! I wasn't planning on updating for another few days, but your reviews really made a difference! I just want to thank The Night Whisperer for the awesome reviews of this story. It really makes the story worth posting! And thanks to everyone else who commented as well.**

 **Anyways, let's get on with it!**

* * *

When everyone regrouped at their base, Naru split them into groups and instructed them on which equipment to put where.

Mai ended up setting up mics in various rooms with Monk. Naru had only told them to put five per floor, since they didn't have enough for the large number rooms, so they were left to their own devices as to there to put them.

They were looking for a place to put the third mic on the first floor when Monk suddenly stopped.

"Hey, Mai? Didn't we already set up a mic in this room?" he asked, pushing open a door.

Mai peeked inside. She vaguely remembered the dark oil painting above the fireplace. "Yeah, I remember this one."

The odd thing was, there was no mic to be seen. She shrugged. "Maybe Naru came in and moved it somewhere else."

"Maybe." Monk didn't sound too convinced.

When it came time to go upstairs, Mai volunteered to lead them. "I remember which way to go," she lied. She wasn't ready to tell Monk she was hearing Gene in her head, and he didn't question her about it as she led them this way and that, up and down hallways until they miraculously arrived at the foot of the stairs.

Monk grinned and mussed her hair. "Good job, Mai."

On the third floor, Mai and Monk had just finished setting up the last mic when Gene whispered, _Over there._

"Wait," Mai said, grabbing Monk's arm to stop him. "I just want to check this room out."

"What for?" he asked. "Did you have a dream about it?"

"I can't remember for certain. Just curious, I guess."

Mai opened the door. The room was the enormous library from her dream, and she decided she hadn't lied to Monk after all. Gene had said the room was important, but what was so important about it? She started walking inside.

"It's just a library, Mai," Monk said, holding her back. "Come on, Mai, let's go back. It feels strange here."

"Yeah, but… I think I need to go inside." Mai disengaged her arm from Monk's grip and slowly ventured inside. The library was small; about the size of her own bedroom, with bookshelves lining the four walls and a desk to the right. There was also a fireplace and a window seat to the left. Mai took one look at the window seat and instantly began going there.

"Over there," she said to no one in particular.

"Mai, I don't think -"

Mai's foot went right through a weak piece in the floor, and suddenly, she was falling. The floor within a two foot radius around her was caving in. She screamed and threw out a hand, scratching herself on the splintered wood before a strong, quick hand grasped her hand, stopping her fatal fall.

Mai's heart thudded wildly and she blinked the sudden, desperate tears that had sprang up before Monk grabbed her. She had thought for a second she was going to die right there, break her neck at the bottom of her fall. Naru would be so angry. She looked down. It was dark, as if it lead into some closed room with no lights.

Monk slowly pulled her up, his neck muscles straining with the effort, not bothering to waste his breath talking to her. When he had finally pulled her all the way up and deposited her on the floor, he let out the breath he had been holding in, gasping for air.

Mai sat hunched over on all fours, trembling all over. She didn't know why she had been so scared. After all, she wouldn't have broken her neck; she would only have sprained an ankle, or at the most, broken a leg. She glanced at Monk, who was panting, who had saved her, who never failed to make her laugh. She had gone against his wishes when she walked in here, and put his own life in danger in the process.

He finally got his breath at this point, and reached over to yank Mai into a hug. He crushed her against himself so she could hear his heart beating furiously.

"Don't - don't ever do that again," he whispered. "I'm scared - I'm scared one day you'll get hurt so bad and I won't be there for you."

"I'm sorry, Monk, I wasn't thinking." Tears welled up in Mai's eyes for no reason.

"It's okay, Mai." He took a trembling breath and then released it. "Let me see your hand."

Mai showed him her bleeding, splinter-filled hand. It burned whenever she moved her fingers or wrist. She cried out when Monk pulled out an especially large piece.

"You need to show this to Ayako right away," Monk declared. "We're done with the mics anyway. And no more detours."

"Okay."

Meanwhile, Masako, Ayako, and John were setting up cameras in various rooms, though there were twice as slow as Monk and Mai because they kept getting lost.

They were setting up a camera on the second floor. Masako was just turning it on when she felt someone pull a hair on her head.

"Hey!" she cried at no one in particular. She looked around. Ayako and John looked up from plugging various wires into the camera and outlet. Both of them were in front of her.

"What is it?" Ayako asked at the sound of her yell.

"I am not sure," said Masako, massaging her scalp. "It felt as if -"

Suddenly, there was a huge pressure on the front of her throat, pushing her neck backwards. It wasn't choking her, but she couldn't move forwards or the pressure became so much she was afraid her neck would snap. She tried to scream for someone, but her throat was too constricted.

"Miss Hara!" John yelled, rushing to her side as Ayako began chanting something. He fought the invisible force against Masako's throat. It vanished as Ayako completed her chant with a loud yell. Masako coughed a few times and massaged her neck to rid it of the feeling. Her throat felt dry and cold.

"Are you alright?" Ayako asked. "Are you injured?"

Masako shook her head, a hand on her throat. "No. It was just some wind."

"That was no wind! We should get back. I think that's enough cameras for now."

Back at the base, Naru finished plugging in the last computer and sat down to read over what he had written in his black journal. Mai's comment about Gene was nagging at him. Not only was he a little shocked but also worried for his brother. And he felt a little jealousy he didn't care to admit at the fact that Mai and Gene now shared the connection he had once had with his twin brother. He considered pulling out a small compact mirror he kept in his back pocket, but then decided against it. He had work to do.

While he waited for his laptop to turn on, he called Yasuhara to tell him to find out anything he could from old records that may not be online. While he was on the phone, he suddenly was pushed from his chair and thrown onto the floor. There was a grunt and a crash, and the next thing he knew was that Lin was standing over him, rubbing his shoulder and staring at one of his monitors laying on the floor.

He stood and straightened his clothes, quietly waiting an explanation.

"It was pure luck that I happened to look up at the exact moment that the monitor fell and pushed you out of the way," said Lin. He was not a man easily ruffled, but here he was, clearly unnerved. "If you hadn't been so lucky, your head wouldn't been crushed."

Naru stood there, speechless. He had escaped almost certain death by the skin of his teeth, and that had been Lin's doing. If Lin hadn't been there….

The door burst open. Monk and Mai came in, Mai clutching her hand, trailing behind him.

"Where's Ayako?" Monk demanded. He saw the broken monitor and Lin picking up its broken pieces. "What happened here?"

"Never mind that," said Naru. He glanced at Mai. "What happened to your hand?"

"N-nothing," Mai murmured. Would Naru send her away if she started getting hurt?"

"Blood is definitely not nothing," Lin observed dryly.

"Lin!" Mai hid her hand behind her back, wincing as the splinters twisted with the movement of her hand. "You're supposed to be on my side!"

Naru held out his pale, slender-fingered hand out expectantly. Mai wanted to hold it, but even more than that, she wanted to stay on the case. She stubbornly shook her head.

"Mai," Naru said insistently, but she refused once again. Naru's beautiful blue eyes grew cloudy. "Mai," he said dangerously, "give me your hand."

Mai looked helplessly at Monk, but he only inclined his head towards Naru. "Just give it to him, Mai."

Tired of waiting, Naru let out a sigh and stepped forward towards her. Mai started to back up, but he reached around her to grasp her injured hand by the wrist. He brought it out in front of them, his stoic demeanor never wavering.

"Mai," he said, "I knew you were clumsy, but how on earth did you do this to yourself?"

Mai was beside herself with anger. How could he? And just when he was beginning to think he cared for her after all. "Well, I'm sorry, _your Highness,_ for breaking some weak floorboards and almost falling down a bottomless black hold to certain broken ones!" she spat, attempting in vain to wrench her arm from his grasp. She felt her face contort in pain as a splinter twisted painfully under his thumb.

Naru's expression didn't change, but he held her wrist tighter and drew her in a little closer. "A bottomless black pit?"

"It wasn't bottomless, just black!" Mai cried, scared she was going to have tears in her eyes if Naru didn't let go. "It was in the library. Now _please_ let me go! You're hurting my hand.

Naru didn't let her go, but he did move his hand up so he was holding her by the elbow, where there were no splinters or scratches. "Lin, the first aid kit is in the second drawer of my desk." He then proceeded to drag her the smaller of the two sofas in the room and made her sit down.

He took a pack of rubbing alcohol wipes, tweezers, and band-aids out of the box. "Monk, tell me what happened."

"I know how to speak!" Mai said sourly.

"But you have a habit of leaving things out," Naru replied, beginning to remove the splinters. Mai bit her tongue and fought the urge to yank her arm away. It hurt.

"Well, we finished putting up all the mics and were coming back when Mai decided to investigate a room she thought was important." Mai silently thanked him for not mentioned her dream. "She was walking around when the floor suddenly caved in. I caught her, but not before she tried to grab onto the edge and scratched herself."

"I see," Naru murmured, continuing to poke and prod Mai's hand and forearm in an attempt to get the splinters out. She squirmed in her seat, fighting tears and the urge to yell at him simultaneously. She had always dreamed of her and Naru holding hands, but none of those fantasies involved the strong urge to slap his hand away.

The door opened once more. Ayako, John, and Masako came in. Masako was pale and went straight to the couch to sit down. Naru took in the sight and frowned. "Another one?"

Ayako saw him, Mai and the first aid kit and understood, but she was angry. "Another one? What do you mean _another one?_ While you've been sitting idly in your chair for the past hour, the rest of us have been doing work, so excuse us if the spirit in this house hates us and decides to attack!" She angrily stalked over to him and snatched the tweezers away, pushing him off the couch. "I'll do that!" She expertly began plucking splinters from Mai's hand. "Monk, make Masako some tea."

"Oh, um, sure." Monk sped away as fast as possible.

Mai waited for Naru to say that he himself was almost hurt too. She had deduced that much from Lin's shoulder and the broken monitor. However, Naru said nothing and sat down tiredly at his desk, rubbing temples, and thought he had been rude, the unfairness of the situation rose up inside of her until she opened her mouth to speak.

"I- "

Naru raised his head wearily from his desk to see what she was going to say. Lin met her eyes and gave a slight shake of the head from behind Naru's back. Mai got the hint that Naru didn't want or need her help or pity, despite how unfair it was or how much she itched to defend him. She closed her mouth quickly.

"What is it, Mai?" Ayako asked, concerned, but didn't stop from her work. She was twice as fast as Naru and hurt her way less. She was almost done.

Mai smiled. "Nothing," she said, and glanced at Lin as Ayako finished cleaning her hand. He subtly nodded his approval and resumed his cleaning of the broken monitor. Ayako bandaged Mai's arm in a way that covered her wounds but did not restrict her movement.

Mai slowly moved her hand. It was sore, but at least the splinters weren't poking her anymore. "Thanks, Ayako."

"My pleasure," she said, and after rubbing the top if her head, she went to check on Masako. "What happened anyway?" she asked.

Mai told her what happened, and then John relayed their side of the story. Once again, Mai waited for Naru to speak up, but he didn't say anything, and she knew she shouldn't say it for him.

It was only fifteen minutes later that Monk stumbled in, balancing a tray of seven now-lukewarm cups of tea. "That's it, Naru!" he cried. "Where's the floor plan of this house? I'm sick of wandering around all the time, and no one knows how to give me clear instructions!"

"That is actually our next task. Since there are no current blueprints of this house that Mr. Tanaka can give us, we must create one ourselves. John and Mai, take the first floor. Lin and I will take the second floor. Ayako, Masako, and Monk, take the third floor."

After the tea was finished and the necessary supplies distributed, he gave them a warning.

"In light of recent events, no one is allowed to be alone at any time under any circumstances. Understood?"

Everyone nodded. So seldom did they investigate a case in which individuals weren't targeted that they had become used to it. They all knew the drill by now.

* * *

 **So, let me know how I did, if you think any of the characters aren't themselves or if its just all too random for you.**

 **For next time: Lost pens, lost SPR members, and a revelation about the house.**


	4. A Bad Realization

**Heyyy! This is a bit of a shorter chapter, and doesn't have too much stuff in it, so I'll be posting the next one pretty soon!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. If I did, I would know whether John refers to Naru as Kazuya or Shibuya.**

* * *

John was unusually quiet as they began outside the house, measuring the width of the building and the doors. Mai's ears hummed with the silent atmosphere, and finally, she couldn't take it anymore.

"John, do you feel all right? You're awfully quiet."

"Yes, I'm fine," John replied, making a note on the sheet of paper they were making the floor plan on. "It's just the house that unsettles me, you know?"

"Yeah." Mai gave him the measurements for the door, and they moved inside. "Did you sleep well?"

John let out a little laugh and rubbed the back of his neck. "Between Takigawa's snoring and Kazuya's restlessness, I guess it didn't go as well as it does at home."

Mai laughed too. "Monk - even in his sleep he manages to be obnoxious." They moved to the first room on the first floor, which looked a little like a study. Mai briefly wondered why a study would be on the first floor before shrugging to herself. "What about Naru's restlessness?"

"Kazuya's a very slight sleeper - maybe too light for his own health," said John. "When I went to sleep, he was awake. When I woke up, he was already awake. When I rose in the middle of the night to fix my sheets, he awoke and asked me if anything was wrong."

Mai frowned. "That's definitely not good. Is he like this on every case?"

"I think so."

"And yet he's always wide awake during our investigations," Mai mused.

"Yes." John wrote on the paper. "He must be very blessed."

"Yeah." Mai wondered if this was the reason he was upset and irritated when she fell asleep on a case. _Probably,_ she thought glumly.

They went to the next room. "What about Lin?" Mai asked.

"Lin? He's the ideal roommate. Sleeps quickly, wakes quickly, doesn't walk, talk, or snore."

"What about you?"

John turned a little pink. "I've been told I talk sometimes in my sleep," he said with a small smile.

Mai grinned. "So do I! Maybe we should try having a conversation one night."

"That would be a first." John patted his pockets as Mai gave him the length of the room. "Mai, have you seen my pencil?"

"It was sticking out of your back pocket when we came in here," she said, looking around.

"I must've lost it somewhere here then."

"Here, take mine." Mai handed him her pen.

"Thanks."

As he stood to leave the room, Mai caught sight of the unfinished floor plan. She frowned. "Hey, hang on, John, the math doesn't make any sense."

"Hmm?" John glanced at the paper. "Maybe there's a secret room or something?"

"That can't be it. The inside is bigger than the outside."

"Then maybe we measured wrong?"

"Yeah, that's probably it," Mai said, but she distinctly remembered seeing the number on the tape when she read it out to John. "Let's go back and redo it."

"But what should we redo? This room, the first room, the foyer, or the outside?"

"I see your point." Mai turned in a circle, observing the room. "Let's ditch the dimensions and draw in the rooms. We need a map, not a complete blueprint. This is dumb."

"But won't Kazuya want-"

"Screw what that self-absorbed jerk wants! _I_ want to hurry and finish so we can have some lunch. Come on."

They walked through the rooms one by one, putting random descriptions for the rooms. Some reflected the amount of furniture, some what they assumed the rooms should be used for.

They walked into a room that looked like some sort of parlor or drawing room. There was a door leading outside on the right wall, and Mai peeked out of it as John surveyed the rest of the room, sizing it up for his sketch.

"Hey, Mai, I think I might've misplaced your pen," he called.

"Huh?" Mai looked back. It wasn't like John to lose things. He had lost his own pencil and her pen now within the space of ten minutes.

There was a sudden crash as the door they came in through slammed shut, and John yelped as it narrowly missed bruising his elbow. Mai giggled, and he chuckled sheepishly at his own jumpiness. He tried the door, and when it swung open easily, Mai went back to hunting in her pockets for a spare pencil.

"Um, Mai?" John called out nervously. "Will you come here for a second?"

"Sure, what's - oh." Mai had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she saw what John was looking at so nervously. He had reopened the door not to the hallway they had come in through, but another room, one she recognized as the first room they had done.

She stood there frozen, waiting for something awful to happen. When nothing did, she ran to the opposite side of the room and reopened the door that went out. The front yard was still there, thank god. The whole house hadn't changed; just that one room.

John was still standing there, staring at the other room. "What's wrong with this house?" he whispered.

"It's playing with us." Mai came to a sudden realization. "The spirit controls the house."

"Oh my Lord," John breathed. "There's no way we could ever make a floor plan of the house."

"Yeah. Let's get back and tell Naru. I'm sick of this anyway."

"But how will we do that? I don't think we can anymore. We're lost again."

"I know how to," Mai said quietly. John's face registered surprise, then curiosity. "I can't really explain, but trust me on it," Mai continued.

He nodded and said, "No questions."

Mai took his hand tightly. "Whatever you think, just keep going - and walk quickly."

"Okay."

Mai thought about Naru. She thought about the way his passive demeanor made her want to rip her hair out and throw her arms around him and break down his walls. She thought about the way his raven hair fell across his pale, proud forehead. She pictured his eyes, the way they drew her in, how deep they were. And Gene felt it, and spoke.

 _That way._

Mai lead John through a maze of rooms and hallways, walking quickly, trying not to draw the house's attention until they rounded a corner and she literally walked right into Naru, who was leaning lazily in the doorway of a room while Lin took measurements. Mai stumbled away from him and he looked them up and down. Mai quickly let go of John's hand.

"What're you doing here?" he asked, calm as ever. Mai had just bumped into him! Did nothing faze him?

"What am _I_ doing here? What are _you_ doing here?" Mai asked accusingly. "I thought you and Lin were supposed to be doing the second floor."

Naru rolled his eyes. "We _are_ on the second floor."

Mai frowned. "No we're not."

Naru gestured towards the window in the room Lin was measuring. "See for yourself."

Mai ran to the window and looked outside, pressing her face to the grimy glass. The ground was a long way off. They _were_ on the second floor.

"John," she said in a small voice, "did we go back up the stairs to get here?"

"N-no," he stammered, his face pale.

"So what you're saying is that the house is playing with us," Naru said, unpeeling himself from his position in the doorway.

"Yeah." Mai told him what had happened in the drawing room.

Naru nodded slowly. "That would explain why Lin's lost three pens in the past fifteen minutes."

"And where are you getting all these extra pens to give to him?" Mai asked, bewildered.

"That's none of your concern," Naru replied coolly, and Mai huffed in indignation. She had only asked an innocent question! What was his problem? Did he enjoy watching her squirm under his unkind words?

"My point," Naru continued before she could yell at him, "is that the house is very much alive. Leave that, Lin, there's no use making a floor plan. John, come with me. We're going to get the others. Mai, take Lin down to the kitchen and fix something up for lunch."

"Me take him? Isn't he taking me?"

Naru leaned into Mai until only the words he spoke could only reach her ears. "Lin does not have Gene helping him."

And with that, he was gone, taking John with him.

Mai stood there and sighed dreamily, but Lin jerked her out of her stupor. "Let's go, Mai."

"What? Yeah, let's go."

* * *

 **So I couldn't remember what John refers to Naru as. I know it's either Kazuya or Shibuya, but I didn't know which one, so I took a guess. Anybody want to help me out?**

 **For next time: A kind moment between Lin and Mai, a friendly moment between Masako and Mai, and a cute moment between Naru and Mai.**


	5. Lunch and Homework

**Hello again! Before I start, I just want to thank everyone who helped me out with what John calls Naru. The final verdict: Kazuya.** **Thanks again, guys!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. If I did, I would make sure Mai pestered Lin all the time.**

* * *

Mai thought about the way the kitchen looked as hard as possible and let Gene guide her once he picked up the location. Lin walked in silence beside her. It unnerved Mai. Every time she thought she was getting closer to him, she found herself running into a brick wall.

"Aren't you going to ask why I'm supposed to be leading you?" she asked.

"No."

"Why not? _I_ asked."

"It's not my business."

"So what _is_ your business?"

"Watching over Naru."

"What about the rest of us? Is watching over me your business?"

"Until the rest get back, yes. After that, no."

"So if I was being murdered, but everyone else was there, I wouldn't be your business?"

"Mai," Lin breathed warningly. He didn't drag a hand down his face, but it sounded like he wanted to.

"Fine, fine, I'll be quiet."

They entered the kitchen. Lin sat at the table while Mai took out ingredients for noodles. She struggled and strained to get the noodles until her neck started to hurt.

"Lin, can you get the noodles for me? I can't reach them."

Lin heaved a sigh and got up from the table to take them down for her.

"Thanks, Lin!" Mai said brightly.

"Anything else?" he growled.

"I knew it!" Mai cried gleefully. "You _do_ have a heart, don't you?"

"Never mind."

Mai grabbed him by the sleeve and pulled him back. "Wait, Lin, I promise not to say anything if you just mix these things for the sauce. Please?"

Lin silently did as she asked until the rest of the team came. They ate, and then made their way upstairs. Naru sat down tiredly on a couch, and at that point Mai realized that something was wrong. He never sat willingly on couches when there was work to be done. He would go straight to his desk unless he needed to explain something. Now, he was not.

Mai went up to him and sat down casually by his side. "Naru," she whispered, when she was sure no one was looking. She knew he would be upset if she made it into a big deal.

Naru didn't answer, but Mai knew he was listening. She went on, "Are you okay?"

Naru didn't say anything for a moment, and Mai feared he was going to say something sarcastic and biting, but then he amazed her. He never ceased to amaze her, Mai thought grudgingly.

"Just a little tired, Mai," he said gently. He closed his eyes and leaned back into the couch, resting his head against the back of it. When he closed his eyes, he looked so human, so boyish, so perfect that Mai found herself reaching for him -

 _Stop,_ she chided herself. _He's only being nice to you because he's that tired. Stop thinking of touching him! He hates it._

"Miss Matsuzaki," Naru called, jerking Mai from her thoughts. "We need charms for this room."

"I left my supplies in the van."

"I'll help you get them." Mai stood to go, but Naru stopped her.

"Stay here, Mai," he said. "They'll be able to come back. Miss Matsuzaki, take John and Monk with you."

"Naru, I don't think-"

"Mai, stay here," he ordered, and Mai didn't protest the tone of his voice. She sank back into the couch.

After a few tense minutes of profound boredom, she ventured into the silence. "I need to get my homework from the other room."

"Take Miss Hara with you."

Mai was sick of arguing with him. "Fine."

The girls went to their shared room. Mai rummaged through her duffel bag, trying to hurry so Masako couldn't get her alone for too long and go off on all the reasons she would eventually get Naru and Mai would never. Sure, she knew Masako was pretty and in a much higher position than her, but it didn't make the heartbreak any less. She wanted to keep hoping that Masako would find someone else or some other place to be and maybe, just maybe -

"Mai, what are you doing?"

She realized she had been staring into nothing, and maybe for quite some time. She shook her head and yanked her books from her bag. "N-nothing. Just lost in thought."

"That's a first."

Mai groaned. She didn't want this conversation right now. "Masako, I'm really not in the mood right now."

Masako was quiet for a moment. Then she said, "Maybe some other time, then," and hid a smile behind her sleeve. Mai looked up at her in amazement. Usually, she would never let it go. Mai had been expecting some awful retort about how she was in a mood to have Naru or something equally ridiculous, but this was startling and...nice.

Mai sighed in relief. "You're really not that bad, Masako."

"Not that bad?"

"Not bad at all."

They smiled at each other for a moment, and Mai tried to memorize every single detail of that moment, of a moment where the two girls could be sisters instead of mortal enemies, of a moment where they could love each other instead of love Naru. Mai reached out to take her hand.

"Not bad at all," she repeated.

They were walking back in a comfortable silence when Mai tripped over a kink in the carpet. She cursed and caught herself, but her shoulder was suddenly extremely cold. She looked around in fear as she rubbed it, trying to discern if there were any spirits around, but she didn't sense anything.

Masako noticed as well. "You bumped into one of Lin's shiki. He sent one with us. He also sent one with Ayako and Monk and John."

"That's sweet of him," Mai giggled, trying to imagine the passive onmyoji's face as concerned. She shook her head and smiled to herself. She _was_ his business after all.

"Please don't say anything about it though," Masako said. "I don't think he wants us to know."

"I won't," Mai promised, and they walked into base.

As much as Mai wanted to sit next to Naru, she knew she wouldn't concentrate within a five foot radius of him, so she took a chair next to Lin at the computer table. She was taking advanced biology, and it was a struggle to pass without having the teacher to answer her questions.

She took out her homework and began doing it. Halfway down the page, she got stuck. It was something about electrons and she didn't get it all. She repeated the question to herself a few times under her breath, trying to put her mind to it, but it just wasn't registering.

"What did you say?" Lin asked, looking up from his laptop.

"Oh, nothing!" Mai said. "I didn't mean to bother you. I just have a bio question I can't understand."

Lin turned back to his computer. "I'm awful at anything human-based."

Mai silently thought of his shiki and tried to hide a smile. "Oh, well," she said. "I guess I'll wait for Ayako to come."

"Come here, Mai," Naru called from the couch. Mai tried to squish the butterflies in her stomach. "I can help you with it."

Lin looked at him. "Naru, I don't really think you should-"

"Come here, Mai," Naru repeated firmly, almost warningly.

Mai glanced at Lin, who shrugged. She took her stuff to Naru. When she handed her notebook to him and stood in front of him, he said dryly, "Sit, Mai. I don't bite."

"Um, okay." Mai tried not to look in Masako's direction and sat as far away from Naru as she possible could.

Naru sighed boredly. "Mai, can you see the question from all the way over there?"

"Well...no."

"Then?"

Mai reluctantly moved closer to him until he was satisfied, which wasn't far enough for Mai's weak heart. She hoped against hope that her face wasn't a horrible shade of maroon. She was so close she could feel the heat of his body warming her. He could probably hear her heart thudding against her ribs.

"Which question?"

Mai could barely understand him over the rushing blood in her ears, and her face was so hot she was sure it was going to melt off. "Umm…that one," she mumbled, pointing to it with her pencil.

Naru caught her hand and Mai almost melted before she realized he was only taking her pencil. He drew a diagram on her paper with a practiced hand and began explaining the answer to her. Mai struggled to concentrate on his words rather than his voice.

"Mai? Mai, are you listening?"

"Yeah?" Mai squeaked.

"Then what did I just say?"

"Um…" Mai glanced at the paper, trying to guess which number was the most recent one. "6 ATP molecules are produced?"

Naru rolled his eyes. "Lucky guess." He handed her the textbook and notebook. "And Mai?"

"Yeah?"

"Stay right here. You can't pour me tea from there."

Mai looked at Masako. "Can't Masako-"

"I'm paying you to be my assistant, not Miss Hara. Do you really want a cut in your your paycheck?"

Mai fumed silently. Why was he so bipolar? One minute, he was explaining her question to her, and the next, threatening her paycheck? She poured him his tea, not caring that it spilled everywhere, and sat as far away from his as possible. She wasn't going to obey him any more than she had to.

Half an hour later, she began the next section, and, unfortunately, she did not understand it at all. She had to finish this today, or she would be severely behind. She didn't know what anything meant. She glanced several times in Naru's direction and decided the lesser of the two evils was being off schedule today and asking Ayako later.

Speaking of her…

Naru's phone vibrated and he put it to his ear. "John?...I see. Mai will come and get you in a few minutes. Don't leave even if a door appears…Yes, of course."

He hung up. "Mai, you need to find Ayako, Monk, and John. They went into a room and when they turned to leave the door had disappeared. Take Lin with you and bring them straight back here. Focus on John."

Mai knew she was the only one who could go, except maybe besides Naru, but she hesitated. "One tiny problem." she said. "How am I supposed to get into a room with no door?"

Naru looked away from her and returned his focus to his laptop. "I'm sure Gene knows how," he murmured.

Mai rolled her eyes at his vague answer and went for the door. He just wanted her out of his hair, didn't he? "Come on, Lin!" she called, determined not to think about it.

* * *

 **Yeah, I know it's short, but I decided to split a long chapter up into two. Hopefully the next one will be more satisfying.**

 **For next time: A really dark hallway, really dark stairs, and, obviously, an evil spirit.**


	6. The Art of Passing Through Ceilings

**I am typing up chapter 22 as you read this, and that's pretty much the end, so I'm debating between speeding up the updates and keeping to this every few days not-really-schedule. Let me know in the reviews if you want more of the story a little faster. Onto chapter 6!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. If I did, maybe I could figure out how to write Lin without him being OOC.**

* * *

When Lin joined her, she focused her attention on John, as Naru had suggested. She imagined his gentle, perpetually-cheerful face, his kind eyes. She thought about the way his sweet nature never let him argue, backbite, or intrude in someone's personal life. He never hated on anyone. Mai smiled to herself as she let the feeling of his personality wash over him.

 _There,_ Gene told her.

Mai lead Lin through the room, walking quickly, humming a silly song her mother liked to sing. It made no sense, but it brought Mai comfort. The thickness that was always present in the atmosphere of the Tanaka House seemed to lessen.

Mai took a break from her humming and turned to her companion. "Do you feel that, Lin?" she asked.

Lin nodded silently.

Her humming momentarily paused, Mai felt a cold presence surround her once more, truly realizing how horrible it was. A little scared and uneasy, she resisted the urge to hold Lin's hand and satisfied herself with walking a little closer to him.

"Lin?"

The tall man grunted by way of reply. Mai didn't mind. His presence was enough to calm her.

"Do you hate that I'm weaker than everyone else and that you have to babysit me all the time?" she asked suddenly, thinking of the way looking to him provided reassurance for her but certainly not the other way around.

"No."

Mai felt that he was going to continue if she didn't interrupt him, and he did.

"You're not weak, Mai," Lin said kindly. He was silent for an entire minute before he went on. "You just have a different skillset that everyone else."

"Different from Naru, too?"

"He is in a category of his own, but he still does not have your abilities."

The began walking up a narrow flight of stairs that Mai didn't know went into total darkness until she couldn't see her hand in front of her face. Her breathing became constricted, and she was overcome by claustrophobia. The darkness pressed in all around her. It was so quiet she could hear the blood pounding through her ears. There was a pressure upon her shoulders, and she realized it wasn't just claustrophobia; some sort of spirit was there, and it was intent on scaring her. It became so horrible she stopped abruptly.

"Lin?" she whispered fearfully.

Something touched her hand and she screamed. Whatever it was, it wasn't Lin.

"I'm right here, Mai." Lin's voice was calm and soothing in the darkness. He sounded like he knew what he was doing.

"Do you feel that?" she asked.

"It can't hurt you while my shiki are here, Mai," Lin said, and this time, it _was_ him who touched her hand, and it was warm and comforting. "Keep walking."

Mai turned, determined not to pester him any further, but she hadn't gone two steps when she felt cold fingers on her neck. "Lin!" she screamed, instinctively turning and burying her face in his shirt. "Something-something's got my neck!"

Lin's hand found the side of her neck. "There's nothing there, Mai. You have to keep going. I can't lead you out, I can only help you. You have to do it."

"I can't," she croaked tearfully, clutching Lin's wrists and struggling to see his face in the darkness, but there was nothing. She wished in vain for some light. Maybe if they had something - anything - she wouldn't be so scared.

"The spirit can only frighten you as much as you let it, Mai." He took her by the shoulders and turned her around. "I'm right here behind you. Come on now." He gave her a gentle push forward, and she was glad for the impulse. As she began to walk, Lin started whistling a tune, and though it was sad, it made Mai feel calmer. The darkness seemed to recede a little, and she was able to breathe again.

 _John,_ Mai thought. _I'm looking for John, Gene! Lead me to John. John, John, John. Where the heck is he?_

Suddenly, Mai's foot failed to find the next step. She twisted automatically, grabbing onto Lin to stop her slip, but he was also falling. Mai cried out as they passed through some horizontal permeable barrier. Sudden light blinded her, and she landed hard into someone's arms.

"Ugh…" she moaned. She heard a thud and wearily opened her eyes to see a very confused Monk staring down at her.

"Monk!" She wrapped her arms around his neck. His clueless face was a welcome sight after fifteen minutes in total darkness. She was so happy to see another human being that she kissed his cheek in happiness.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," he said, raising an eyebrow but smiling nonetheless. "What's gotten into you?"

Mai wanted to stay in his arms and complain about everything, but a series of groans cut her off. "John!" she cried on seeing Lin groaning and sprawled on the much smaller man. Monk put Mai down and saw to Lin while she helped Ayako lay John out with his head on her knees.

"Are you okay, John?" Ayako said worriedly. "Does anything feel broken?"

John crushed Mai's hand in a death grip, his face twisted in pain. "Just… got the… wind… knocked out of me," he gasped in between painful breaths. "Probably… a little ...bruised."

"Don't talk, John," Ayako told him gently as she felt his limb and chest for broken bones. "Just relax." John nodded and squeezed Mai's hand tighter and closed his eyes.

"Lin, what about you?" Mai asked, turning to see him massaging his shoulder. He had a bruise forming on his left cheek.

"Landing on John was not the best of experiences, but it was better than being landed on."

"So… how exactly did you get in here?" Monk asked.

Lin answered him, and Mai was grateful she wouldn't have to explain. "I think Naru will be able to better explain that when we get back."

"And how exactly are we supposed to do that?" Monk asked. "We can't exactly pass through ceilings like you two."

Mai ignored her hand, which was turning an interesting shade of purple, and followed Monk's gaze up to see an ornate ceiling completely intact.

"We fell _through_ that?" she asked, utterly bewildered.

Monk shrugged. "I'm not really sure, but there's no other explanation. I was just standing here waiting for you guys when I heard you scream. I looked up and I suddenly saw you and I caught you…more or less. John wasn't so lucky."

"You only have a sprained ankle and some bruised ribs," Ayako told John, patting his shoulder. "You'll be okay."

John smiled weakly. "Thanks."

Mai pulled John to his feet and pulled his arm across her shoulders. She thought hard about leaving the doorless room, and then she knew. She lead everyone to an empty wall.

"Everyone, don't talk. Close your eyes," she instructed. "And don't open them." She looked pointedly at Monk, who threw up his hands in mock surrender. When she was sure no one was looking, she turned back to the wall, and closed her own eyes.

She imagined a door in front of her, a door behind which Naru sat, drinking cold tea. There _was_ a door. There _had_ to be one.

Slowly, she reached out blindly towards the wall, reaching for the doorknob she pictured in her mind - a shiny, gold doorknob, right there in her mind - and her hand touched smooth, cold metal. Without opening her eyes, she swung it open, picturing Naru sitting there in her head.

"Mai?" Naru said. "What are you doing?"

Mai opened her eyes. "Naru!" she laughed gleefully, dropping John's arm and spinning around in a circle. She _was_ strong. She _was_ powerful.

She had opened a door in the doorless room straight to their base.

"Does this mean…we can open our eyes?" Monk asked.

"Oh, sorry, guys. You can open your eyes," Mai repositioned John's arm around her. "Come on, John, sit." She led him to sit next to Naru.

"B-b-but how did you-" Monk stared at Naru and Masako. "How did we-"

"Yeah, Naru, Lin said you would give us an answer!" Ayako said, wedging herself between the narcissist and John.

"First, Mai, tell me what happened."

Mai told him everything, minus her bawling like a baby on the dark staircase.

"Yes, it all fits."

"What does?" Ayako steamed, boiling with frustration. Mai figured that being locked in a room with no idea of rescue could make someone very mad.

"Mai here seems to have the ability to manipulate energy. She cannot make any of her own, but she manipulates the energy of the spirit to manipulate the floor plan of the house to her own will."

Monk waggled his eyebrows at her. "Master of manipulation, eh?"

Mai rolled her eyes at him as Naru continued.

"That's only half of it." Naru looked out the window, and Mai felt her heart twist for him as she realized what he was going to say next. "Gene is helping her, too. He guides her through the house and prevents her from getting lost. If anyone needs to go anywhere, take Mai or me with you. I can do the same, but only to some extent. While I can see that Mai's energy has been clearly depleted from that recent manipulation, she's much better off then I would be.

"I believe that, at one point, there was a person here, who, when he died, became a spirit that merged into that of the house. That is what causes this house to be alive; the spirit _is_ now the house, and can shape it to his will. Yasu will be here by dinner with research. Until then, everyone must stay close. I don't know why the house is doing this, but it is obviously not for any good reason."

* * *

 **So...was Lin that bad? I know he doesn't talk too much but I really wanted him to help Mai out with her fears. Anybody have any comments/suggestions?**

 **For next time: More nausea, some conclusions, and how to take down a possessed man.**


	7. Shouting and Wrestling Matches

**Thanks guys for all the encouraging reviews! I've decided I _will_ be trying to update once a day if I can. So, let's get on with it!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. If I did, Ayako would definitely yell at Naru like she does in this chapter all the time.**

* * *

After completing her biology homework with Ayako's help, Mai was ordered to go down to the kitchen with Monk and Masako to make dinner.

Mai sat down on the table and refused to do any work. She had already made two meals and she didn't want to make a third. Masako and Monk found fish in the freezer and began seasoning it.

"So, Mai," Monk prompted, "Gene's starting to see you again?"

Mai nodded tiredly.

"But I thought - didn't Naru…well, you know, bury him?"

Mai shrugged. "He's come before, too. When we were in that house with the mirrors, he came to help Naru."

"Yeah."

They lapsed into comfortable silence, with only the occasional conversation between Monk and Masako breaking it. Mai fell into a fitful sleep for only a few minutes before she heard Monk yell for her.

"W-what?" she mumbled and looked up, and then decided she shouldn't. Opening her mouth made bile rise up in her throat. Her head swam, but she forced herself into a sitting position. What on earth was the matter with her? She never got this nauseous, not even when she was sick in bed with the stomach flu.

"Mai, we need to talk to Naru," Monk told her, shaking her shoulder gently. "Do you feel sick?"

"Yes," she groaned, trying to open her eyes. Through her haze, she saw that Monk was holding Masako up by the waist, struggling to keep her head from falling to the side.

"It's Mr. Tanaka," Monk whispered, as if someone might overhear. "He walked by the kitchen door and Masako suddenly fainted, and you're looking pretty green yourself."

"I can tell," Mai moaned. "Just - give me a second."

"Well, hurry up. We need to get back to Naru and tell him so he can do something."

Mai opened her mouth to tell him to shut up. A wave of nausea stopped her, and she shut it quickly.

"Right. I need to stop talking."

When Mai felt better, she stood up. Overcome by dizziness, she crashed into Monk, who almost dropped Masako. "Mai!" he chided.

"Sorry," she muttered, though she wasn't. She felt exhausted and weak, as if she had run a mile with a high fever. She wanted to faint like Masako, but she wasn't any pretty, fainting girl. She was your average, imperfect high school girl with a job to do. She had to get them back to base.

She considered trying to open the kitchen door to their base, but she knew she was too tired, so she didn't try. Instead, she rose and - clutching Monk's arm for support - she began stumbling through the maze of hallways. The walls seemed to start closing in, and Mai realized that they actually getting narrower and narrower. They became so close she couldn't walk next to Monk anymore. Claustrophobia set in as she remembered her earlier encounter with this feeling when she was going to get John, Monk, and Ayako. She tried to hum, but no noise would come out of her mouth. She licked her dry lips. "Monk," she whispered.

"It's okay, Mai."

"You have to sing."

"What?"

"Please, Monk."

Monk didn't question her any further. He began singing in some foreign tongue, his quiet voice rising until it overcame the awful thrum of the house. The tightness in her lungs went away, and the walls spaced out until they were back to normal. Mai no longer felt dizzy. She turned to see that Masako was walking on her own again.

Almost immediately, Gene told her to open a nearby door, and they were back at the base.

Mai smiled involuntarily on seeing Naru stretched out lazily on the couch, Lin plugging in various wires, and Ayako making John help her write charms on pieces of white paper. The normality was a relief.

Naru looked up and his eyes widened ever so slightly. "What're you doing back so soon?" His tone was accusing, but it wasn't very acidic; it was almost unsure.

Monk lead Masako next to Ayako on the couch, who immediately began fussing over her. Though she seemed much better, her face was unnaturally pale. Monk turned to Naru and said, "We were all in the kitchen when I saw Mr. Tanaka pass by the doorway. Next thing I know, Masako's on the floor and Mai's ready to throw up all over the table."

John frowned. "You mean that Mr. Tanaka was the one who made them sick this morning, too?"

"It seems so," Naru answered. Mai watched him rise in one fluid motion and go to the window. She liked watching him move: the gracefulness, the panther-like gait, lean and quick, the cheetah's lazy gaze.

"So, Mr. Tanaka's an evil spirit?" Monk asked dubiously. "I thought it was the house."

"It _is_ the house," Naru said, "but I believe this particular spirit has the ability to inhabit more than one vessel at a time. At this moment, it is coming at us from two directions - both Mr. Tanaka _and_ the house."

"So...what do we do?" Mai asked. She was extremely confused, but she got the gist of it. Mr. Tanaka was part of this situation.

Naru turned away from the window. "We deal with one problem at a time. John, how do you feel?" he asked abruptly.

John looked clueless and surprised, but he wasn't one to argue or question unnecessarily. "A little banged up, but okay," he said, a crease appearing between his brows.

"How about inside? Strong or weak?"

"Physical assault cannot weaken strong faith."

Mai thought she saw Naru's mouth tug upwards, but it was probably just a twitch, because his cool, indifferent composure didn't waver. She swallowed her disappointment. She wished Naru would give her - or anyone, really - a genuine smile. Why was it so hard for him?

"I need you to get yourself prepared," Naru continued. "As soon as I come back, you will perform an exorcism on Mr. Tanaka."

Ayako stood up. "And just where do you think you're going, you selfish little brat? You can't go off doing who-knows-what when you are clearly in danger. Do you think I enjoy treating this team of their ills? One by one, they've all come. Masako, Mai, you, John - "

"Not me," Monk offered, and Ayako smacked him.

"I do it willingly because treatment is in the heart of every doctor, but I hate seeing all of you hurt!" Ayako burst out. Mai wasn't so much bewildered at her sudden words as she was at Naru's silence.

Ayako seemed to realize she was standing up and panting and hot and angry and everyone was staring at her because she took a deep breath, brushed the hair out of her face, and smoothed out her clothes.

"The point is, Naru," she said in a calm, clear voice, "You can't go throwing yourself in danger because you feel like you have to do it by yourself. We're here, too."

She sat down and took Masako's wrist in her hand.

When everyone continued to stare at her, shell-shocked into silence by her tirade, she glared. "What? That's all I had to say." She couldn't resist shooting Naru an officious look. "Cat got your tongue, Naru?"

"No," he replied coolly. "I merely waited for you to let out that bottled-up anger. It hinders people's ability to function properly."

"Naru!" Mai yelled at him, surprised and angry, just as Ayako turned red and stood up again. Her hands curled into fists. Anger flashed dangerously in her eyes.

"We'll see who's functioning properly when I get done with you, you little -"

Mai was horrified and angry at Naru, too, but she was even more terrified at where this was going. She was across the room in an instant. She took Ayako's arm and gently trailed her hands down to her fist, gently uncurling them. "Please, Ayako," she whispered, so no one else would hear. "I think Naru's in a bad mood. His pride's been hurt, after all."

For a moment, Ayako was silent, and Mai thought she had said the wrong thing and the priestess would rip her hand free and claw Naru all over his face, but after a tense moment, she only snatched her hand away and snarled something under breath and sat back down next to Masako. Mai heard a collective sigh of relief and let out the breath she herself had been holding. They were a team; they couldn't be doing this. And what had gotten into Naru?

"In any case," said Naru, interrupting Mai's thoughts. "I won't be going alone. Lin and Takigawa are coming with me."

"We are?" Monk asked bluntly.

"Yes." And without another word, Naru disappeared from the room with Lin and Monk dashing after him.

Monk walked quickly besides Naru, matching his long-legged stride easily. Naru seemed deep in thought, and Monk loathed to interrupt him, but he had to say _something._

"Naru, that was really harsh," he said.

Naru's eyes were focused on the hall in front of him, but he answered, "What?"

"You know what I'm talking about! That spat with Ayako just now. I mean, seriously, you just hurt a woman!"

This time, Naru did turn to look at him. "Do you mean to say that women are weaker than men?"

Monk felt his face heat up and he spluttered, not from speechlessness but from fury. "Naru, how dare you? Don't you have any honor? Any sense of dignity? No morals? Girls aren't weaker but you should them with some respect!"

When he didn't reply, Monk tried a different approach, one he knew was sure to touch him. "How would you feel if Lin suddenly lost his temper with Mai and began yelling at her?"

"Nothing," Naru said, eyeing him coolly. "That is between him and her."

Monk snapped. "Why you-"

Suddenly, Lin's hand was on Monk's wrist. Monk remembered Mai just a few minutes ago, holding Ayako's arm, and forced himself to dispel his anger. It was poisonous, tearing their close-knit family apart.

Naru held out a hand. "Stop," he whispered.

Monk had not realized how dark it had become all of a sudden. His heart thudded loudly in his chest and filled his ears before he realized that the thudding was coming from down the hall, getting closer and closer. Someone was making their way to the trio.

Naru pointed to himself, then the left wall; he pointed to Lin, then the right wall; and he pointed Monk, then the middle of the hallway.

 _Why me,_ Monk whimpered silently, but he got into position.

 _Thud, thud, thud, thud._

Monk wished he was wearing his robe. He felt more powerful and confident with it on.

 _THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD._

Monk's heartbeat and the footsteps were loud and synchronized and threatened to overcome his senses.

 _THUDTHUDTHUDTHUD._

Monk whispered his mantra to himself and didn't bother to heed Naru when he raised a finger to his lips irritably for the sake of his own sanity. The familiar repetitiveness was the only thing keeping him upright and conscious. He could do this.

He felt - rather than saw - it jump at him and he dodged to the side, and Lin was also there, pulling him to the wall. He looked back to see Mr. Tanaka - or the creature that Mr. Tanaka had been reduced to.

His eyes were red, the pupils just slit in the dark eyes. He was sweating and twitching, snarling and panting at them, legs tensed for another pounce.

"Hey!" Naru shouted his side, momentarily distracting Mr. Tanaka from Lin and Monk.

Lin began commanding his shiki to go and defend Naru, but he realized Monk might need them instead.

Monk jumped, tackling Mr. Tanaka from behind as Mr. Tanaka advanced on Naru. They both fell with a yell and a thud. Mr. Tanaka thrashed under Monk until his flailing fists connected with Monk's right eye. Monk cried out and - distracted - was flung to the side. At this point, Mr. Tanaka was radiating such a horrible amounts of energy that even Lin, who had trained himself against such things, felt cold.

Naru hauled a moaning Monk to his feet. He wrenched Monk's hand away from his face and pried open his eye with two fingers. "You'll be fine," he said expertly and released Monk, who went back to gently massaging his eye.

Meanwhile, Lin was trading blows with Mr. Tanaka in a whirlwind of arms and legs. Lin was an expert, but Mr. Tanaka was no ordinary man; he was backed by a spirit perhaps thousands of years old. His limbs appeared, rather than swung, into Lin's shoulder, ribs, knee, face. His right ear ringing, Lin jumped back to avoid another swing, contemplating what to do. Mr. Tanaka was not Mr. Tanaka anymore. How were they going to bring him back to base for the exorcism?

* * *

 **Anyone want to guess at how they're going to do it?**

 **For next time: An accidental manipulation, an exorcism, and another fainting (but whose?)**


	8. The Exorcism

**Here's a bit of a longer chapter. Make sure to read the A/N at the end!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. If I did, I would take all the credit for creating the wonderful character that is John.**

* * *

"Yo, UGLY!" Monk yelled as Mr. Tanaka swung into Lin's face for the upteenth time, one hand over his bad eye. Lin silently admired his bravery, his determination, his downright foolishness. He was hurt and he knew Lin and Naru were much more powerful than him, yet he refused to let them handle the possessed man alone. "Come and get _me!_ "

Lin suddenly knew what to do. While Naru and Monk fought Mr. Tanaka, he gave his shiki instructions. He watched from the wall as they disappeared down Mr. Tanaka's throat, one by one. The body was still human, and he began to choke.

It was awful to watch, but eventually, Mr. Tanaka passed out on the floor. Lin recalled his shiki quickly. He couldn't kill their client.

Naru produced a rope from seemingly nowhere and he and Monk bound Mr. Tanaka's arms and legs.

"So," Monk said when they were finished, standing up and admiring his handiwork. "Who wants to carry him?"

 _Meanwhile..._

Since Mai had nothing better to do, she went with John to the room he shared with the other boys and sat on the edge of the bed while he gathered his things. She was thinking about the argument between Ayako and Naru just minutes ago. Something had not been right during that exchange of words.

"John," Mai said, feeling a little foolish. "Can I ask you something?"

John had by this time located his robe and stood up with it draped over his arm. He smiled quizzically at her, his expression open and warm as always. It reminded her of her mother. "Anything at all, mate."

Mai completely forgot her question on hearing his words, the tone of his voice. While everyone was getting angry and snapping at each other and short-tempered in general, John's warmth was always there, like a steady flame to light any other candles that might have burned out. Mai threw her arms around his neck, sure that she was going to burst with her love for him. John seemed momentarily surprised, but he hugged her back all the same.

The feeling in Mai's chest slowly receded to the usual, glowing love for John that was always there and she released him.

He didn't look at her like she was crazy, or worse, horribly awkward, but smiled his sincere smile and didn't pry, didn't even ask what her original question had been.

"Thanks, John." Mai felt better, her crankiness washed away like grime being carried down the drain. "I will never understand how you do it," she declared.

"Do what?"

Mai poked his chest. "Do _you._ You're always so kind and can smile for anyone and believe that the worst person on earth still has some goodness in them and you would help them reform."

John gave her a quizzical smile. "Would I?"

Mai giggled. "Of course you would." She sat back down on the bed and threw herself back so she could stare at the ceiling. "Put that on. I've got to remember my question."

It came back when John was done and arranging a small vial, a cross, and a Bible on his desk.

"John, did something seem strange to you about Ayako and Naru's argument?" Mai asked.

"In what sense?"

"They...well, um-" Mai struggled for the words to no avail. "I don't know. "

John tried to help. "Was it them, or the tone of their voice, or their words?"

"Everything. I mean, it's not like they haven't had a disagreement before. It was just that...this was worse." Mai looked at John, and he nodded slowly.

"I get what you're trying to say," he said. "Now that you mention it, it was sort of odd. It wasn't them at all."

Mai shrugged, suddenly tired of thinking of this stupid house. "Oh, well," she said, taking John's arm and putting it across her shoulders. "Guess we'll just have to wait and see."

Mai opened the door -

\- and cursed in a very unladylike manner and slammed it shut.

The door had opened up to a balcony overlooking the front of the house.

"Mai?" John asked gently.

Mai covered her mouth with her hand, embarrassed. "Sorry," she said, and heaved a sigh. "It's just - ugh, we can't even walk down the hall anymore! I don't - I mean - what if we get really lost one day and never come out?"

"We will, Mai," John said quietly. "Don't lose hope. You've done it many times already. You can do it again."

"That's the problem. I feel all used up from all those walks up and down and finding the kitchen and you and Naru and opening that door." John shifted subtly at her side and Mai looked down, alarmed and ashamed. "Oh, what am I whining about, making you stand there like that? You're hurt and you haven't complained even once!" She smiled ruefully. "I'm the horrible person and you'll still help me reform."

John smiled and tried to protest, but Mai shushed him. "Don't speak. And don't open your eyes either. We have to get you back before the others do."

John did as she said.

Mai closed her eyes and concentrated on their base. It was home to her, its computers and monitors lined up neatly like Naru liked them, Naru's tea cooling on the table, Naru himself sitting at the-

Mai broke off her concentration and shook her head to clear it. Why was she thinking of home in terms of Naru? Why was he the only thing she could think of? She tried to remember Masako and Ayako sitting on the couch like she had left them.

But all she could think of was Naru - sarcastic, handsome, cold Naru. Her heart swelled and the sight of him pounded against her eyelids, driving away all sane thought. Mai enjoyed her fantasy for a moment before opening her eyes to clear them of the young man.

And he was still there.

She let out a cry as he walked right into her and struggled to keep John upright so he wouldn't have to put pressure on his twisted ankle. She half-hopped, half-stumbled backwards, certain she was going to crash into John and only cause him more pain when Naru caught her around the waist with one hand and steadied John with the other. Mai gripped his sleeve just in time. One more second and she would've been laying in the crook of his elbow.

 _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ Mai thought. She yanked herself up by Naru's arms and promptly let go and backed away, her face burning. _Don't think about that for one more second! Stop thinking!_

Mai realized she was staring at his beautiful face and he was giving her a questioning look. In the darkness, her face was probably glowing red, like the embers of a dying fire.

Darkness?

There had been no darkness in John's room.

There had been no _Naru_ in John's room.

"Mai!" Naru said in a scolding tone. "You were supposed to stay at base. What are you doing here?"

"I-" Mai saw moment behind him and stopped. "Monk?"

"Mai!" he called happily, though his face was strained and red with exertion. Lin was there, too. They were carrying something - someone? - between them.

"Is that-" Mai tried to lean around Naru's tall, lean frame, but his hand shot out and pushed her back - rudely, she thought.

"It doesn't matter who that is," he said impatiently, maybe angrily. "The point is, you snuck out of base, and you brought John with you?"

"I did not sneak out of base!" Mai retorted hotly. "I just went with John to get his stuff and then the door opened to a balcony, so I was trying to get back to base, but then -" Mai ended abruptly, hoping her face wasn't turning red just after she had managed to get it under control

"But then what?" Naru pushed, frowning.

John - sweet, wonderful, live-saving John - spoke up. "But then we ended up here all of a sudden." He glanced at Mai. "Did the house bring us here?"

"I think so," Mai lied. "Maybe it didn't want us to get back to base." She tried to look around Naru again, and this time, he let her. "Is that Mr. Tanaka?"

"Yes," Naru answered, as if that were the last thing they should be worrying about. He was looking closely at Mai. "If the house is transporting people places, it must be getting more dangerous."

Mai wondered if he could tell she had lied. Was that why he was saying that? She decided not to answer.

"Stop talking, you two!" Monk groaned. "Mr. Tanaka is really heavy."

Naru settled his gaze down the dark hallway. "Come on."

Whatever directions Gene was giving her were the same as those that Naru was following. Mai briefly wondered whether Gene was in his head, too. They went slowly, John hobbling with an arm around Mai, and Lin and Monk panting with the effort of carrying Mr. Tanaka. The group first went to the boys' room to get John's things and then went to the base.

"Mai, John!" Ayako cried, dashing to the door to help John, who looked weak and pained. His ankle was swollen to double its size and the purplish color was spreading.

"We were getting worried," Masako said, rising as well. She frowned on seeing Naru, Lin, and Monk behind them. "Why are you with them?"

"The house took us to them," Mai repeated her lie. She felt like Naru's eyes were boring holes into the back of her head, or maybe that was just her consciousness.

Masako's frown deepened even further and she opened her mouth to speak, but Naru was faster. "Lin, Monk, put Mr. Tanaka there. John, prepare yourself for the exorcism. Everyone must stay out of the way while John performs it. There's no telling what the spirit will do."

Mai felt the urge to cower behind the couch on hearing Naru's words. It he was unsure, something must be terribly wrong. He always knew what to do, and now he was at a loss.

But no one else hid behind the couch, so she didn't either. They all stood in a crowded semicircle behind John, which didn't seem like staying out of the way in the least, but Naru didn't say anything, so she guessed it had to be good enough.

John began reciting his verses, and almost immediately, the air in the room became heavy and charged. Mai's chest felt tight and her breathing became constricted, but no one else seemed to be having the same problem, and she dismissed it as fear.

Mr. Tanaka twitched for a few moments before his twitching became writhing and then thrashing. The room became cold, and Mai was glad she had put on a hoodie that morning. Mr. Tanaka opened his mouth and a guttural cry escaped from him, low and feral. Mai wished she had ignored what everyone would think of her and cowered behind the couch after all. She hid behind Monk and whispered his mantra to herself. Ayako was muttering something next to her, and Masako, Lin, and Naru were staring intently at Mr. Tanaka, though Masako didn't look so well.

" _You cannot stop me."_

Mr. Tanaka's lips were moving, but it wasn't his voice. It was several dark, ugly voice blended together, each louder than the last. They grated and grinded against each other, against Mai's ears, against her heart. She clutched Monk's shirt with one hand, winding it around her fingers.

John was not deterred. He continued to speak in his calm, gentle voice. It gave Mai strength.

 _"Stop, or it will be worse."_

Holy water splashed and sizzled.

" _Stop."_

John's murmur continued.

 _"STOP!"_

Mr. Tanaka's features twisted hideously as the spirit tried to stay in and John tried to force it out. Mai felt terrified for John. How could he continue so calmly?

Finally, Mr. Tanaka gagged and his mouth struggled to form his final words and the spirit left through it.

 _"You can never win."_

The spirit seemed to jump from the body towards John, who momentarily froze. Mai didn't have time to scream, time to dash from behind Monk to jump onto John, but Naru - arrogant, cold-hearted Naru - was already there, throwing his arms out over John's shoulders and dragging him to the ground, ducking out of the way. He thrust a hand upwards and Mai turned to see part of the ceiling cracking, bursting at its seams. It looked like it was going to fall.

Mai heard Lin shout for his shiki as Monk turned, wrapped his arms protectively around her and pulling her to him, dropping to the ground. She saw Masako fall and Lin drop to one knee, and Naru shout something at John. The lights went out and Mai struggled to see but Monk only pressed her tight to his chest. Something crashed to the floor somewhere and Mai yanked away from Monk to see if it was Naru, if the ceiling really had fallen onto him, but it hadn't. It was still there.

The lights flickered once, twice, and then the tenseness in the air seemed to disperse. John was pulling Naru away from under the cracking ceiling, and as soon as they were out from under it, Naru pulled his hand back.

"Cover your eyes!" he yelled.

Mai wouldn't have covered them, couldn't have because she could barely understand Naru over the haze that the exorcism had put her in, but Monk pressed a warm hand over her eyes and there was a deafening crash. Dust flooded into her nose and mouth, and the sound of coughing filled the room.

"Naru!" Lin yelled, and Mai tore herself away from Monk for the second time, anxiety filling her for she knew what would become of her boss if he attempted a feat like that.

Naru was passed out on the floor.

* * *

 **So, guys, I'm currently typing out the last of this story, and I have another one planned out. The question is of whether or not I want to make it into a sequel for this story, or just its own thing. If I do make it into a sequel, Mai and Naru's relationship will continue to build up and stuff. If I don't, it'll finish and be clear by the end of this story.**

 **What do you guys think? Let me know what you'd like to see in the reviews!**

 **For next time: Discussions, the arrival of Yasu, and (another) possession.**


	9. Aftermath of the Exorcism

**Hey there! Thanks for all of your guys's opinions on a sequel. Most of you - well, _all_ of you - wanted the next one to be a sequel, so I've decided that that's what will happen. Now let's get on with the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. If I did, people would probably get possessed more.**

* * *

He was horribly pale and thin lips were blue. He looked like he was having trouble breathing, and Mai was a little scared Lin was going to have to do CPR on him, but then she saw some of the dust in the air swirl away from his nose, and she felt better.

Lin had been leaning over him, but now he sat back and wiped his brow. His face was pale as well, but Mai knew it was from concern and not weakness. She silently thanked Naru's parents for forcing him to stick with Lin. He was always there to care for him and make sure he usually didn't do anything too brash.

Now that the worse of the danger was over - except for maybe Naru's situation - Mai surveyed the room. Masako was passed out and Ayako was putting her on one of the couches. Lin did the same for Naru. Mai helped Monk take John to an armchair.

Mai resisted the urge to make them all tea, just for the sake of something to do, and sat on the armrest of the couch Naru was on, her feet up on the edge of the sofa. Naru was totally gone - his eyes were still behind his eyelids, and he didn't twitch like a sleeping person sometimes did.

Mai watched Lin adjust him. "Was he holding the ceiling up?" she asked.

Lin sighed heavily. "He is a fool," he said quietly. "I sensed some energy coming from Naru from the very beginning. The spirit was trying to crush John with the ceiling, and I can only assume that he had been holding it throughout the entire exorcism."

Mai looked at him, and felt horribly sad for a moment. "He must have been suffering all alone," she whispered.

Lin shook his head regretfully. "He could have interrupted the exorcism, but he didn't. Now that I know he is alright, it doesn't seem like a risky move, but he was extremely reckless."

Mai almost giggled, despite the situation. Usually, it was Naru calling _her_ reckless.

Her giddiness was abruptly cut off as Ayako stomped over, face flaming with anger. _"Reckless?"_ she screeched. "He's a suicide case! If he knows he's going to end up like this, why does he insist on being so stupid?"

Her hand curled into fists, but as she spoke, her voice cracked. "I told him he didn't have to do it alone," she whispered, pressing a hand to his chest and then his forehead. She sounded close to tears.

"Is-is he okay?" Mai whispered, frightened.

"Yes, of course, but he's very weak. It wasn't a quick use of his energy, if Lin is correct. He was struggling for a few minutes. And the ceiling is not an easy thing to hold up. If he does this again within the next few hours, I'm not sure - I'm not sure he'll...survive."

The words hit Mai like a rock. Naru not survive? What did that mean? How was that even possible? Naru couldn't not survive. He had destroyed a small god not too long ago. He was so powerful and confident and intelligent and handsome and -

Mai tore her eyes away from him before she admitted something embarrassing to herself and looked to John and Monk instead. Monk had just finished cleaning up the broken pieces of yet another fallen monitor. Mai remembered how the first one had broken and looked back to Naru. Ayako had really scared her. What if she looked away and Naru -

This was hopeless. If she looked away, she thought horrifying things; if she looked at him, she thought embarrassing things. She just wanted to curl up next to him and stop thinking and go to sleep.

What? Curl up next to Naru? What was she thinking?

 _Stop thinking like that. He's a narcissist. He's horrible. He only cares about himself. He's selfish and rude and only wants tea. Tea, tea, tea, all the time._

Why the _heck_ was she smiling?

Masako stirred and sat up next to Monk. She blinked on seeing Mai on the edge of the sofa where Naru was spread out. "What...happened?"

"He passed out," Mai told her bluntly. What did it look like?

"Naru used his PK to hold up a chunk of ceiling the spirit was going to drop on John," Ayako clarified after giving Mai a look. Mai huffed and stuck her tongue out at her back. She went to straighten Mr. Tanaka on his chair, but when she began to lift his ropes, Lin stopped her.

"Leave him tied, Miss Matsuzaki. If he isn't possessed when he wakes up, we'll release him then."

"Oh. All right." Ayako sat down next to Monk on the couch as Lin began checking the monitors and computers.

"Ow, you sat on my hand!" Monk cried, yanking it away.

"That's why you're supposed to keep your hands to yourself!" Ayako yelled back. Mai knew it was commonplace for them to fight, but she could tell the exorcism had put everyone on edge, especially Ayako since she had to see to all the injured.

Monk wisely kept his mouth shut. An uneasy silence fill the room, only broken by the occasional clacking of Lin's keyboards.

"So…" Mai said when the silence became unbearable. Everyone looked at Mai, glad for the noise and distraction.

"Anybody want to guess how to get rid of this thing?"

"Exorcise the house?" John said.

"Find the body of the original guy who died and exorcise him?" Monk asked.

"We could burn the house down," Masako suggested.

Mai thought about it. "Lin, would that work?"

"Probably not," Lin answered without ceasing his typing. "The house could easily put out the flames by flooding this place or isolating the burning."

"Unless you distract it thoroughly."

"Highly unlikely. The house was able to use Mr. Tanaka _and_ manipulate its structure simultaneously. It is extremely powerful."

Monk laughed nervously. "Guess we'll have to call in a bulldozer."

"Idiot," Ayako muttered.

"Hey," John said, head tilted to the side. "Do you hear that?"

Mai strained to hear what John was talking about. It sounded like shouting. "I think it's...Yasu."

Monk jumped up from the couch and went to the window, pressing his face against the glass. "Hey, it is!" He opened the window and yelled, "HEY, YASU! WE'LL BE THERE IN A SECOND!"

He yelled something back in reply and Monk yelled, "Hey, shut up!"

Mai heaved a sigh and stood up. "I guess I'll go get him," she said, heading towards the door."

"Take someone with you," was Lin's automatic response. Mai groaned.

She looked around, assessing her possible companions. She knew Lin would not leave Naru. Ayako would not leave her sick patient. John had a sprained ankle. Masako could not defend both of them - not that she would go with Mai and pass up the chance that Naru would wake up with her there and Mai absent.

That left…

Monk seemed to come to the same conclusion. "I'll come!" he said, and he did not make it seem like a last resort or a punishment but like an honor. He grinned and pulled her through the door.

They came out in an endless hallway. When Mai looked back, she discovered that the door to their base had disappeared. "Great," she muttered, and they began walking.

A few minutes of comfortable silence went by. Finally, Mai spoke.

"Hey, Monk?"

"Yeah?"

"Does this case freak you out?"

Monk laughed. "Every case freaks me out, kid."

"This one is weirder than the rest."

"Yeah. It seems each one is weirder than the last."

"Yeah."

The hallway was getting darker and darker, and Mai suddenly had a random thought.

"I wish I had fire powers."

"Fire powers?"

"Yeah. Then I wouldn't be completely clueless in the dark. Back when I was coming to get you and John and Ayako with Lin, it got pitch black and some spirit kept coming at us. It really freaked me out."

There was a silence.

"Monk? Are spirits scared of the light?"

Silence.

"Monk?"

No answer.

Mai said the only thing she could think of that she was certain would make him answer her. Besides, it was turning into the truth.

"Monk, I'm scared."

He didn't reply.

Mai stopped walking, and a second pair of footsteps came to a halt as well. Biting her lip, she reached out in the darkness towards the place she thought Monk had stopped. Her hand touched clothing. "Monk?" she whispered, too frightened to feel for a hand. What if she touched something cold and slimy - or worse, old and withered?

 _"Mai."_

The numerous, grating voices that Mai had heard coming from Mr. Tanaka during the exorcism filled her ears. It was continuous, loud, and terrifying.

 _"We have been waiting for you, for a soul as pure and young as yours."_

Mai yanked her hand away from whatever it was that she was touching, and hastily backed up a few steps. Where was Monk? What had she been walking next to?

 _"You cannot run forever. We control the house. You think you can control it, but it is only a petty magic trick. We_ are _the house."_

Something grabbed at her ankle and she fell, chin slamming against the ground. She kicked out, but there was only air. She turned and tried to get a grip on whatever was holding her ankle, yanking roughly at the hand, scratching and kicking with her other foot before she realized something.

The hand was Monk's.

"Monk?" she whispered.

 _"He is gone."_

Mai shrieked on hearing the voice so close to her face and kicked harder, trying to back up, but the hand on her ankle began pulling her closer. _Maybe if it pulls me close enough, I can kick his face._

The thought was short-lived. She was roughly flipped over, knees were pressed into the back of her calves, and hands into her shoulders. Someone was breathing down her neck in a horrible way.

"Get off!" Mai cried, but she could only slightly lift her neck. She twisted and Monk's long blond hair fell onto her cheek.

He was possessed.

* * *

 **For next time: Well, _someone's_ got to save Mai. I hope it's Naru!**


	10. Saving Mai

**Sorry about the wait, guys! I've been busy, busy, busy. Anyways,** **I'm not sure if this first part of the chapter with Naru and his senses seems logical, but it had to happen for the rest of the chapter to work out. If you're confused about what I just said...ignore it. Enjoy the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. If I did, I would be able to write this chapter better (it's all in Naru's POV).**

* * *

It was dark, and Naru was having a hard time waking up out of it. He struggled against the blackness, trying to move his arm, his mouth, his eyelids, but he was utterly paralyzed.

He stopped fighting it and tried to conserve his energy to think. It was a good time to rationally gather all the information and come to a conclusion.

He began with his questions: First, why did the house want them there? Second, who was it that had turned into a demon and taken over the house? Third, what was so important about the library that Mai had gotten injured for it? Fourth, why had the house allowed Mr. Tanaka to call in their team?

Next, he laid out the important facts: On the first day, Masako, Mai, and he were attacked - there must be some common denominator. Singing reduced the demonic effect of the house - Lin had told him that. Exorcising large object was extremely hard - to do so would require an amount of physical and mental strength that none of them could imagine.

Before he could assemble the questions and facts into conclusions, an ear-piercing shriek filled his ears. He frowned. It sounded so much like…

"Mai?" he called out, but there was nothing except dark silence. Had she gotten lost on the astral plane? No, he couldn't travel on the astral plane. He couldn't be there even if she was lost.

Had she gotten hurt?

The thought pushed him to renew his fight against his paralysis. "Mai!" he yelled. What was she doing?

She screamed again, and he was sure his heart would burst. His breathing became shallow; he was wasting his strength, but he didn't care. She was in trouble, and he couldn't be there to save her, and it was killing him.

Naru mustered every last bit of strength he had to move, to wake up out of his paralysis, to save her, using her name to help him.

 _"Mai!"_

He sat bolt upright, suddenly awake, her name still on his lips, the harsh light blinding him. His forehead knocked painfully against another, and as his vision cleared, he saw Ayako's face hanging above him. She was groaning and muttering nasty things that he was close enough to hear, but he didn't waste time listening to them. He swung his legs to the side of the sofa and four jumbled voices erupted in protest. Two pairs of hands pushed him down.

"Stop it!" he insisted, and hated that his voice came out lame and weak. He felt dizzy, but that would go away soon - a minor nuisance. He turned his attention to the more important issue at hand. Looking about the room, he noticed that two faces were missing. "Where is Mai?" he asked.

His voice came out harsh, accusing, and cold, as if they themselves had done something to her. He repeated himself, more insistently this time. "Where is Mai?" he demanded.

Lin, ever faithful, spoke up. "She went with Takigawa to bring Yasuhara up."

"She's already used up too much energy today!" Naru growled, attempting to get up again.

"Naru, stop!" Ayako cried. "You're sick and you need to rest. I don't know what you think happened, but _nothing_ is wrong. Stop killing yourself!" There were real tears in her eyes, but Naru wasn't worried about himself in the least.

"Mai is in trouble," he said, and everyone looked at him in shock.

John laughed nervously. "Surely she's not. I thought you were not an astral projector?"

"I'm not," Naru confirmed, "but I heard her. When four senses are dulled, the fifth one becomes hyperactive. Miss Matsuzaki, we need more charms for this base and for each member. Lin, take Masako and go find Mai and Takigawa. I will go with John."

"Naru, we're not splitting up," Lin said firmly, and pushed Naru forcefully back down into the couch when he tried getting up. "And we cannot leave Miss Matsuzaki here alone."

"Miss Matsuzaki will be safe here. Her charms are strong enough. As for the rest of us, we _are_ splitting up."

"Naru, sit down!"

"Lin, _I'm_ conducting this investigation!"

The two glared daggers at each other, neither one of them letting up. Naru's head was beginning to hurt. He wouldn't be able to win a staring contest, much less a glaring one.

Ayako spoke, and Naru mentally sighed in relief. "How about I go with John, and Naru, you can stay here. That way, we are splitting up, but you aren't getting hurt."

"I can't leave him here alone," Lin said. "And John can hardly walk."

Ayako beamed. "So there's your answer. John and Naru, stay here. The rest of us will go. If we get lost, I'm sure Lin's shiki will be able to do something about it."

Naru eyed her coldly. Who was she to be making decisions for him when Mai was in trouble? "Miss Matsuzaki-"

"Shut up, Naru!" Ayako suddenly whirled on him, pressing a hand hard to his shoulder so he was pinned into the couch. She leaned over him, eyes flashing dangerously, and grabbed the front of his shirt.

"You listen to me, and listen good," she hissed angrily so only he could hear. "One more PK trick of yours, and you will be dead. D-E-A-D. Dead. Got that? I don't think Mai, or your parents, or anyone here would very much like it if you were to die. Can you imagine what it would do to Mai? I don't know if you care about anything else, you stupid narcissist, but I know you care about her, so you will not throw away your life over something that could have easily been prevented and break her heart. You will sit right here until she comes back because she _will_ see you alive again!"

She gave him a final shove and stood up, pink and panting. "Am I clear?"

"Your anger is very clear." Naru didn't know why he did it. He only baited Mai like that, and it was because he knew she would get over it. "Your voice is hoarse, our face is red, and your breathing is shallow."

"Why you little -" Ayako's fist swung, but a hand caught hers before it could connect with Naru's face. She looked a little relieved, and Naru knew she had not meant to do it. He could feel the tension in the air, and it was because of the house, not them.

"You have to refrain from hitting your patients, Miss Matsuzaki," Lin said calmly.

Ayako yanked her arm away from him. "I don't _have_ to do anything," she said irritably, and stalked to the door. "Come on, Masako."

When Ayako was a safe distance away, Lin leaned down and said, "She is right Naru. And don't irritate her like that. John, watch him, okay?"

John looked a little uncomfortable, but he nodded, and Lin left. Naru softened his glare for the priest. He had done nothing wrong, just an innocent bystander caught in their argument. Naru leaned back into the sofa and closed his eyes. Mai's scream reverberated in his brain. He tried to block it out, but it was still there. He tried to push it down for a while before finally opening his eyes irritably to rid himself of the panic.

He looked up just in time to see the door fly open.

Monk slammed the door open with one hand, his other holding something flashing to Mai's neck. Mai was desperately clawing at his hands, but he was too strong for her.

"Mai!"

Naru leapt up and would have fallen on his face as a wave of dizziness overcame him had it not been for John, who was there to hold him back.

"Naru!" Mai cried breathlessly. Naru could hear her fear so clearly it twisted his insides. She had called out for him, not John.

Mai went on. "He's possessed-"

Harsh, withering voices filled the room, grating against Naru's ears. _"We want the boy,"_ Monk said, his eyes a madman's. _"Come, and no one else needs to get hurt."_

Beside Naru, John trembled. "M-me?"

Monk seemed to notice the priest for the first time. He snorted. _"Not you. The powerful one. His soul is alight with power."_

Naru didn't take his eyes off Mai. She was struggling against Monk, a scene Naru had witnessed many times before, but this time, no one was laughing. Mai's eyes went wide and she gasped slightly as Monk pressed the knife harder against her throat.

"Naru," she whispered. "Don't listen to him. Don't go."

 _"Shut up,"_ Monk hissed, and blood beaded up against Mai's throat.

"No, stop!" Naru shouted, his composure lost at the sight of her blood. It was too much like Gene, too much like the vision of his twin's death that he had had through their connection in his brother's final moments.

He pushed the emotions away. No emotion. That was the way to think, to function, to survive.

Think.

"I'm coming," he said, slowly inching forward. He heard John take a breath to say something and held up a hand to silence him. "John, don't move."

Mai's eyes were wide with fear and worry and denial. "Naru-"

"Quiet, Mai," he snapped. Why was she talking if the spirit would only hurt her? He knew he wouldn't be able to take it if he saw any more blood.

 _One more PK trick of yours and you will be dead._

 _Doesn't matter. It's for Mai. Ayako only said she had to see me alive again, and here I am._

 _Break her heart._

 _She doesn't love me like that. She doesn't know._

 _I don't want her to die._

 _Come and no one gets hurt._

 _One more PK trick of yours and you will be dead._

He could do this. It would only be a moment. He wasn't that weak. Surely Ayako meant another big use of energy?

He had reached Mai now. He wanted to reach out and take her by the arm and snatch her away from the spirit, but he held in his urge.

A trail of blood was slowly trickling down Mai's neck. She shook her head almost imperceptibly. "Naru," she begged. "Please, don't. Don't do this to yourself. He'll only-"

"Mai," Naru said as calmly as he could. He itched to yell, but he forced a blank face. "Remember what I told you after the Rokoryu case?"

He had told her to trust him, to have a little faith in him. What he had wanted to tell her was different, but that wasn't anything he _could_ tell her. In front of him, Mai relaxed considerably in Monk's arms. Naru blinked. Did she really have _that_ much faith in him?

Monk pressed the blade harder. _"Whatever you're planning, it won't work! We have no qualms about slicing her neck."_

Naru nodded, pretending to be somber. "John, a little to your left."

"Okay," he said hoarsely, unquestioningly. Naru heard him shift.

 _"Stop conspiring and come. Your destiny awaits."_

Naru walked a little closer to Monk, trying to find the right position. When he did, he stopped. "Mai," he warned. "Chin up."

He tried to make it sound encouraging, to avoid drawing suspicion. Mai, at least, fell for it. She thrust her nose in the air officiously, and Naru suddenly had to squash the urge to smile at her.

No. Concentrate.

He wished Gene were here for him, as they always had been for each other when he was alive and well.

With a sigh, he concentrated all his strength on the knife and with his PK, wrenched it away from Monk. It zoomed forward and embedded itself into the wall near John, but Naru didn't stop to turn and see it. The moment the knife was away from Mai's throat, his leg was in motion, flying, kicking. He struck Monk on the side of his head where he knew it would knock him out. Fatigue and dizziness threatened to overwhelm him, but he forced it away and stepped forward to catch Mai as she stumbled.

"Naru!" Mai sobbed, burying her face into his chest, and she couldn't get out another word, but Naru didn't mind. His nickname had never sounded so nice coming from her. He stiffened as she drew her arms around him, dreading the physical contact, the uncertainty about what to do next, the awkwardness of hugging someone after alienating himself for so long. His wondering and debating came to halt, however, as the black spots that danced in his vision became bigger and bigger, and he collapsed in her small arms.

* * *

 **So...is Naru too OOC? I have no idea how to write him as nice towards Mai without ruining his narcissistic too-cool-for-you attitude. Any thoughts on how to write it better? I would love any pointers!**

 **For next time: Reassembling the team, fainting (why is everyone always fainting?), and a few more revelations about the house.**


	11. SPR Reassembled

**Chapter 11 is UP!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. If I did, Naru wouldn't try to send Mai away for every little thing! He's so annoying!**

* * *

Mai struggled to hold Naru up. He didn't look heavy, but he was unconscious, and Mai was a head shorter. John was by her side in an instant, and Naru's weight halved immediately. "Thank you so much," she said, as they half-dragged, half-carried him to the sofa.

Mai leaned over him, trying to remember what Ayako did for her patients. Naru didn't look too good, and it was all because he had to save her from the spirit. How could she have gone and gotten herself in trouble _again?_ Lin was wrong. She _was_ weaker than everyone in all aspects.

Speaking of which…

"John, where is everyone?"

"Well, you see, a little bit after you left, Kazuya began talking in his sleep. Then he yelled your name and woke up and told everyone you were in trouble. After Ayako told him he would have to stay here, Lin, Masako, and Ayako went to find you." He gestured to his swollen ankle. "I can't exactly walk too much, so I stayed here as well."

Mai found the tissues as John explained and wiped what she could of the blood. "Thanks, John. Is there any left?" she asked, motioning to her neck.

"Um." John looked at her worriedly. "It soaked into your collar."

Mai sighed in exasperation. First, Ayako would fuss over her and care to her cuts. Then she would be killed by Lin for forcing Naru to use his PK to save her. Then, she would be crushed by Monk when he woke up and found out what he had done. Finally, Naru would deem her a trouble magnet and order her to remain within arm's length of him or Lin for the rest of the investigation - or worse, order her out entirely.

If only she could stop her pathetic trembling!

Mai threw the tissue in the trash in a bloody heap and went to Monk. She looked back at John. "Are you going to...exorcise him or something?"

"I think I should wait until everyone gets back."

Mai nodded. "I should probably get them," she sighed.

John stood up. "You can't go alone, Mai!"

"I won't. I'll just open the door to wherever they are."

John went to the window and looked out. "You might want to get Yasuhara, too."

"Yasu!" Mai exclaimed, dashing to the window. "Poor guy. I completely forgot about him." He was sitting dejectedly on the steps, and Mai admired him for his stubbornness; he hadn't left just yet.

"John, will you close your eyes? I feel like it helps me."

"Sure." He sat back down and did as she asked.

Mai concentrated on Yasu, her friend, her one constant in this craziness, this world of priests and priestesses and mediums and spirits and onmyojis and PK users. She remembered the way he teased Naru without getting yelled at, the way him and Monk joked around, the school where she had first met him. He _was_ sitting there behind the door; he _had_ to be.

 _Open the door,_ said Gene.

Mai blindly reached for the doorknob and swung it open.

"Mai!" Yasuhara screamed, jumping up and tackling her in his customary greeting. Mai stumbled weakly and he caught her. "What-what's wrong?" he asked uncertainly, searching her face for answers. Then he seemed to realize something and looked around. "The base is in the foyer?"

"No," Mai said. "Could you just-"

"Naru?" Yasu looked around wildly. "Where is everybody else? What happened to him?" He tripped over something and looked down. "Monk? He's passed out?"

"Yes, he is, but -"

"Mai, your neck is bleeding!" he yelled, terrified. He pressed a hand to her throat. "This situation sure escalated quickly. Everyone was fine this morning!" he wailed.

"Yasu, you need to sit down and close your eyes for a second!" Mai shouted over his questions. She hadn't thought through the consequences of getting Yasu first, and now she was suffering for it. Then again, the others would have fussed over her even more.

John took Yasu by the arm and pulled him to sit down on the couch. "It's a long story, but just wait one more minute," he pleaded, and Yasu agreed hesitantly. Mai smiled. No one could refuse John. She would have to thank him later for that.

"Both of you, close your eyes," Mai ordered. "Don't open them until I say so."

"Why-"

"Just do it, Yasu," Mai said wearily. When she was sure he did, she turned back around.

Ayako's personality was the easiest to concentrate on. Fiery, passionate, caring - a doctor the core, she would protect them all. And she had become a mother to Mai, guiding her, scolding her, holding her close. Ayako and her fiery red hair, Ayako and her calm cleansing, Ayako arguing with Naru over his safety.

 _Open the door._

Mai swung open the door, and three bewildered faces peered at her from the darkness. Before she could get in another thought, dizziness overcame her, and the floor, Lin's arms, and Ayako's cry disappeared into a black hole.

 _Later..._

The hand in her hair woke her up. It was gentle and slim-fingered, stroking her hair continuously away from her face. Mai wanted to snuggle closer to the warm body her head was on, but she was so tired she couldn't move. Her legs were bent up to her chest, and her head was propped up against someone's legs. Someone had taken off her shoes, and she was in her socks. Whoever she was leaning on had their other arm around her stomach, holding her close.

Someone was sitting next to her feet. She could feel their body heat and sometimes they would move and brush against her legs and feet. Mai thought she would burst or burn into a star, she was so full of the feeling of warmth and love. She didn't want to wake up and face reality. Something bad had happened, and she didn't want to remember it just now.

But the voices forced her to.

"We can't do that!"

"Then what do you suggest? A bulldozer?"

"A bulldozer?"

"Don't mind them. Inside joke."

"You can't just solve all your problems with brute force! Use your brain!"

"Says the one who uses her purse as a boxing glove!"

"If I wasn't holding Mai, you would be splattered all over the wall right now!"

"Brute force."

The feeling returned to Mai's limbs as the argument continued, and so did the events of the day. Monk's possession, Naru's collapse, her own collapse, and everything in between. Mai was surprised she didn't have a splitting headache. Maybe Ayako had given her a painkiller.

After several failed attempts, Mai finally managed to open one eye. Almost immediately, the hand in her hair descended down on her forehead and forced them shut.

"It's only been an hour, Mai," Ayako breathed. "You need to rest. Go back to sleep."

"Mai!" Monk cried. Mai felt him lean over her legs. "Is she awake?"

"Of course not, you stupid monk!" Ayako lied. Mai felt her lean over and push him and Monk leaned back. "Now be quiet! You'll wake her up."

"All right, all right," he muttered.

Ayako kept her hand on Mai's eyes for a while before returning to stroking her hair. Mai slept fitfully, waking up every now and then, but Ayako forced her to go back to sleep each time. Finally, Mai awoke feeling better and Ayako did not stop her.

"Mai!" Monk crushed - knees and all - into a hug.

Ayako whacked him with her hand. "She can't breathe! Let her go!"

Monk loosened her hold on her but he didn't let go. "Oh, Mai, I'm so sorry!" he wailed. "Please, please, please forgive me! I'd never hurt you, I swear!"

Mai planted her hands on his chest and pushed herself away from him so she could see him properly. "Monk, an evil spirit took over your body because you were taking me to find Yasu. If anyone should be apologizing, it should be. I know it wasn't you."

"Oh, Mai!" Monk pressed her closer.

Ayako pulled Mai away from him. "Why are _you_ apologizing, you idiot? You're the one who was attacked and even after that you took all the responsibility and brought all of us back to base and _fainted_ on top of that."

Yasu and John and Masako appeared at Mai's side. She tried to stand up, but Ayako was holding her down in her curled up position. Yasu threw his arms around her. "Long time, no see!" he chirped, energetic as always. "Hey, don't you dare get up. I've been filled in on all the details, and you really need to take it easy." He lowered his voice. "If Big Boss tells you 'tea,' I'll take care of it!" He wagged his eyebrows goofily, and Mai giggled.

"I am glad you are alright," Masako said.

"Yeah, you gave me quite a scare, collapsing like that," John said. Mai could see the worry in his eyes, and she remembered that he had been there with her the entire time. "Good thing Lin was there to catch you."

Mai looked around for the onmyoji. He was typing away at his desk but turned when he heard his name. He didn't let her thank him, though. He merely nodded in acknowledgement and turned back to his keyboard.

"You guys are all so sweet. You don't have to stand there like that," Mai told them. "I'm fine, honestly."

"Fine?" Monk yelped. "You've been passed out for four hours!"

"Four?" Mai looked at Ayako accusingly. "You told me an hour when I first woke up."

"Hah! I knew she was awake when you said to quiet down," Monk said.

"Okay, so I lied," Ayako said unabashedly. "I only did it for Mai. You've really had a hard time today, and it's only the second day."

"No need to worry. We'll be wrapping up this case by tomorrow."

They all turned to look at Naru, who was reading at his desk. "Tomorrow?" Mai repeated.

"Did you not hear me the first time?" Naru asked boredly. Mai opened her mouth to say something mean, remembered that he had saved her from a possessed Monk, and thought better of it. She stuck her tongue out at him instead.

"We've rarely wrapped up a case in three days," Monk said. "How can you be so sure?"

"According to the research Yasuhara brought, someone at this household dies at the winter equinox every year," Naru began. "Through my own correlation, it seems that if no one is at this house, people from the nearest village die. The winter equinox is tomorrow, at midnight. That is why the spirit forced Mr. Tanaka to call us to investigate. My guess is that there is a window between midnight and sunrise, since the light weakens demonic spirits, in which the demon must kill someone. By sunrise, one of two things will have happened; either we will have successfully gotten rid of the demon, or the house will have killed one of us. In any case, the case will be closed."

"So if someone dies, we're not going to continue?" Mai asked.

Naru looked at her. "I cannot allow the death of my assistants or consultants. I am only staying after having received this information because I know the house will not allow is to leave, and it might only harm whoever attempts to do so."

 _All those innocent people,_ Mai thought, but she knew Naru was right. He would put himself in danger, but never anyone else. He wouldn't allow a fatal investigation to continue, even at the cost of his own pride.

"In addition," Naru went on as if she hadn't just interrupted him, "The house needs someone, preferably young and powerful. In all the deaths except four, individuals under the age of nineteen and with spiritualist or PK abilities disappeared. In the other four cases, three or more people were killed, most probably to make up for one or two powerful ones.

"That means that Miss Hara, Mai, and I are the most at risk. John is slightly older and Yasuhara has no extraordinary powers, but they may very well be on the demon's target list." Naru looked at them all. "If anyone wishes to leave at this point, you may feel free to do so."

No one said anything, except Ayako.

"Naru, I think Mr. Tanaka, Yasuhara, and Mai should go."

"Me?" Mai yelped. "I'm not leaving!"

Ayako ignored her. "Mr. Tanaka is our client, Yasuhara cannot protect herself, and Mai is just...well, Mai. She's not good at protecting herself, and on your list of at-risk people."

 _Well, if you put it that way, of course Naru will send me away!_ Mai thought angrily. She pushed Ayako away and sat against Monk. "Traitor," she muttered.

Ayako looked at her with no anger, only worry. "I won't let you get hurt if I can help it."

"As much as I hate to say it," said Naru, "Mai has to stay."

"I'll kick her out myself!" Ayako protested.

"If you can find the front door - or any door for that matter," Naru said dryly, gesturing to the smooth walls around them. "Mai is the only one who can get us outside, to the kitchen, to the bathroom, and specific people. She must stay."

"Mai, do not let go of my hand!" Ayako warned, holding her tight.

"Ayako!" Mai whined. "I'm not five!" She turned. "Monk," she begged. "Save me."

Monk only wrapped his arm around her. "I'm not letting you go either!"

Mai squirmed under the two adults. "No one's restraining Masako!" she wailed.

"Masako is not your standard," Ayako said. "She is an experienced medium. If anything, you should compare yourself to Yasu, and he's leaving."

"Mai, I need the bathroom before I go," said Yasu.

"And I need the kitchen," said Monk. "I'm starving."

"No one's starving! And you need to hold it in!" Ayako glared that them both. "Mai just woke up!"

"I can do it," Mai said tiredly, unfolding her legs and standing up. "I'll open one door to the kitchen, one door to the bathroom, and one for outside, and you guys can keep the doors open with the sofa or something so I won't have to keep opening them. Also, no one can close the bathroom door because I'm not getting you out of there."

"Then how am I supposed to use the bathroom?" Yasu asked, devastated.

"The toilet is not in front of the door, and no one wants to see you. Just do your business and get out."

"That is revolting," Masako moaned.

"We're talking about Mai's life here, Masako!" Ayako scolded. "Suck it up and deal with it!"

Mai opened the three doors she had mentioned and then laid down while Ayako - after informing her that everyone had eaten dinner while she was passed out - went to warm up food for her. After they had said their goodbyes, Yasuhara took Mr. Tanaka to the village, where he would be safe. Although Mai opened doors to their bedroom, Naru told them all to retrieve their things and mattresses to sleep in their base, where it would be safer. At this point, Mai was so tired she couldn't have cared less. She didn't bother to help with the mattresses or the bags. She fell asleep on the couch before the lights were turned off.

* * *

 **So in case this is dragging on too much for any of you readers, hold out for just the next two chapters. I like to think they're kind of cute, and they have plenty of cute, mushy stuff and a red-faced Mai (but hopefully not at the expense of Naru's personality!).**

 **For next time: A dream, a nice Naru, and a random, silly nightmare.**


	12. Private Midnight Conversations

**Guys, be excited. I love these next two chapters. I had fun writing them, and I hope you have as much fun reading them, too. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. If I did, Mai's dream would come true. Except, you know, only the good part. Not the bad part. You'll see.**

* * *

She was at a party.

There were musicians playing and bright lights and the sound of laughter and the clinking of glasses. The mansion had been decorated beautifully, with exquisite ornaments and a large, elegant dining table.

She was dancing - did she even know how to dance? - with someone tall and pale and dark-haired. It wasn't Gene, she could tell. Naru's hand was on her waist and her hand was against his shoulder and his eyes danced.

Mai blushed and looked down. What on earth was she wearing? She didn't have the curves or the money to wear something like this, but there she was, in a sleeveless, floor-length, sapphire dress that hugged her so well she actually looked _good._ Maybe Ayako had bought it for her.

She looked around at the other couples dancing and smiled. They all looked so happy, but none of their could compare to her own. Naru was hers and he was holding her and his infuriating smirk was just for her.

"Mai!" someone shouted, and the party lights flickered. In between the flashes of darkness, Mai suddenly saw a dark, decaying room. The smell of rot and dead things was in the air. The couples were old, ugly corpses, and Naru - Naru wasn't Naru anymore. He was pudgy and old and smiling at her like a maniac.

But then everything went back to how it had been, and Mai was content.

"MAI!" someone shouted again, more insistently this time, and the room flickered once again. Annoyed, Mai looked around for whoever was spoiling her night, and spotted Gene frantically making his way through the thick crowd.

Naru put a hand to her cheek. "Ignore him," he whispered, and Mai felt weak right down to her toes. His eyes were hot and bright. "He's only jealous."

Mai felt a smile spread across her face as he danced her away from his twin until they reached the edge of the circle and broke away from the others. Naru pulled her down a deserted hallway and then stopped. Mai looked at him expectantly.

"Me or Gene?" he whispered secretively, smiling as if he already knew the answer.

Mai put her arms around his neck. "Only you, Naru," she breathed into his neck.

They kissed.

"MAI, STOP!" Gene yelled, and the two broke apart.

"Go away!" Mai snapped at him, angry that he had made them break off their kiss. She turned back to Naru and smiled at his expression. He was hers, and she was his.

"Mai, _look!"_ Gene cried, and grabbed her by the arm.

The hallway became dark and rotting, and Naru was the thing she had glimpsed when the lights had flickered in the ballroom. He was snarling and grinning widely. Rotting teeth, hollow eyes, bulging lips. Mai screamed and kicked him away in revulsion and terror. What had she been kissing?

Gene pulled on her arm, but the other man still had Mai around the waist. Gene kicked him in the chest and tugged Mai out of the rotting hallway. He dragged her into a nearby closet.

"Gene-"

"Mai, listen to me. The house is going to try and trick you, play with your mind. Don't get confused, okay?"

"How will I know?" Mai asked, terrified.

"Ask questions, anything personal that the other person should know if they were really themselves and-"

There was a loud banging on the door. Gene looked in the direction of the door and squinted. "Mai, you have to go back. I'm going to send you back. Stay safe, please."

He put a hand over her eyes as Ayako had done not so long ago, and she was falling, falling through layers of dark and light until she slammed into her body so hard her knees buckled. Someone caught her around the waist and helped her stand.

"N-naru?" The dream fresh in her mind, Mai pulled away from him and stumbled backwards down the dark hallway. The door to their base was wide open behind Naru, or whatever was in front of her. If she ducked under his arm, maybe she could get in there.

"Yes, thank you for reminding me of my name," Naru said, though his tone was a little confused. "Mai, what are you doing?" he asked as she continued to inch backwards.

"N-nothing." Mai trembled. He had moved and now she couldn't duck under him anymore. Maybe if she screamed, Lin would wake up. John said he woke quickly. Lin would restrain Naru. Or, if the Naru in front of her wasn't Naru at all, her scream would bring the real one out running.

"Then come back inside," Naru said, cutting off her train of thought.

"No!" What if it was a trap? What if the door was not to their base? After all, she hadn't opened a door to the hallway last night.

"Mai," Naru said, clearly irritated. When she didn't reply or move, he reached out for her arm.

"No, don't touch me!" she shrieked, backing up further as fast as she could. Her back slammed into a wall behind her. Dead end.

Naru yanked his hand back fast, as if he had been burned. Mai could tell she had startled him thoroughly by the way his breathing suddenly became uneven. He shoved his hands deep into his jean pockets - he had slept in his jeans? - and backed away from her a little.

"I won't," he said softly. Mai thought he sounded a little anxious. "Just...come back inside. You were sleepwalking."

It kind of made sense, and the confusion in Naru's face and his jerk reaction to her scream made Mai want to believe him. Then she remembered Gene's words and forced a blank face.

"Where did we first meet?" she asked.

"Mai-"

"Answer my question!" she commanded. What if the spirit didn't know and attacked her for it? What then?

Naru frowned, but he answered her. "Your high school. I took a case for your principal."

"What was I doing?"

"Telling ghost stories with your friends."

"Who was the culprit."

"Your classmate, the poltergeist."

"Why did-"

"Mai!" Naru exploded, his patience worn out. Mai winced. "I don't know what you saw in your dream, but we need to get back to base before some spirit possesses you, or me, and the other gets hurt. I don't want a repeat of this evening."

When Mai hesitated, he sighed heavily and stood to the side so he no longer blocked her way to the door. "Do you want to look inside and make sure it's alright?"

Mai decided enough was enough. Naru had been extremely willing to give her answers, and she didn't want to annoy him any further. She rubbed away the gooseflesh on her arms. "No, I'm-I'm fine."

She followed to the door and looked inside before going in. Everyone was still sleeping, and since she didn't see any duplicate Naru sleeping as well, she reasoned that she _had_ made the right decision. Naru went to the kitchen and she went in after him. He put water on the kettle and waited for it to boil. Mai sat at the dining table, at a loss for what to do. Usually it was her making the tea.

Naru brought her a cup and sat down next to her with his own. "Mai," he said suddenly. "Are you cold?"

Mai hadn't realized she was shaking until he pointed it out. She shook her head and tried to control it as she sipped her tea. It was too sweet, but she didn't mind.

"Do you feel better now?" he asked when she had gotten through half a cup. She nodded, expecting him to ask about her dream, but he didn't. He continued to drink his own. When he was finished, he set his cup down and said, "Mai...I would never hurt you."

Mai felt heat crawling up her neck and looked into her teacup. "I know," she whispered. "It was just - I mean the house - well, you see-"

"Mai, just relax," Naru's calm voice cut through her panic and struggle, and she felt herself physically relax into her chair. "Just take a few breaths. Not like that - deep breaths."

Mai sucked in a breath and tried to hold it in to make it look like she was breathing deeply. Naru shook his head and she swore she thought the corners of his mouth twitch. She stared at his mouth, trying to get it to twitch again and maybe - just maybe - smile through sheer willpower. She didn't know she was breathing regularly again until he spoke.

"Mai, I'm flattered that you staring at me helps you calm down, but could we maybe get on with your dream?"

"What? I wasn't - You self-absorbed jerk!" Mai resisted the urge to pour her tea all over him. "For the record, you're hideous!"

Naru rolled his eyes. "Do you want to tell me now?"

"Well, we were at a party and-"

"We?"

Mai flushed. She hadn't meant to tell him. "Yes - I mean, you were there, too." She skipped the part where they had been dancing. "It was in this mansion, except it was really nicely decorated and stuff. Then I heard Gene calling for me and the entire scene changed. I think he was showing me what the mansion really was like because it became old and dirty. Who I thought was you was someone else. Then it went back to being all pretty again.

"We...went somewhere and Gene came after us and when he grabbed my arm, I saw the thing that was pretending to be you again. We hid and he told me the house was going to try to trick me. When I woke up I didn't know if it was you or not," she finished lamely.

Naru nodded. "We'll have to be careful from now on. It seems as if the spirit can invade people's sleep."

They sat there in silence for a while. Mai reflected on how nice Naru was when they were alone. He lost his icy voice and his face wasn't so hard. He was more inclined to answer her questions and explain things to her without all his sighing and insulting. It was almost as if he took off the ice prince mask he wore for everyone else and showed her a little of who he could be. Maybe if they were alone long enough, all of it would fall away and-

"Mai, you should get some sleep. I don't pay you to sleep on the job."

"Naru!"

 _A few hours later..._

Mai woke up once more that night after a horrifying nightmare. She was lost and Masako was chasing her and she fell down a deep well, her bones shattering as she hit the bottom. She lay there in agony until Naru appeared at the top of the well.

"Me or Gene?" he asked, and when Mai couldn't move, couldn't open her mouth to tell him she had never loved her brother, he put the well cover on and Mai was left alone in the darkness.

When she awoke sweaty and gasping for breath, the first thing she saw was Naru, leaning against the wall opposite her, arms crossed over his chest, eyes vigilant, posture lazy. He was watching her with a raised eyebrow.

"Just a...nightmare," she whispered, answering his silent question.

Naru nodded. "Go back to sleep, Mai."

Mai drew in a shaky breath. "Naru?"

"Yes?"

Mai's heart pounded. She suddenly wanted to ask him. She wanted to confess again, despite the disaster of last time. She wanted to beg for a straight answer. She wanted to know.

But what came out of her mouth was different - for better or for worse.

"Thanks for saving me from Monk when he was possessed."

"It was nothing."

"Nothing?" Mai looked at him incredulously. "You fainted!"

"I can't have a dead assistant."

Mai smiled and pressed her face into her pillow so her boss wouldn't see how red it was. She knew what he meant. "We were all worried for you yesterday," she said, her voice muffled. "Ayako's angry for the same reason. It's called being concerned."

Naru grunted noncommittally. "Go back to sleep, Mai," he repeated.

Mai remembered what John had said about Naru's sleep habits. "You should too. Have you slept at all?"

"I'm watching for the spirit," said Naru, ignoring her question.

"I'll watch while you sleep."

Naru rolled his eyes. "You fall asleep during the day. How am I supposed to trust you to stay awake at night?"

"Naru-"

"Mai, I am about to threaten your paycheck."

Mai huffed and put the pillow over her head. "You are threatening your health."

"Mai…" Naru trailed off warningly.

"All right, all right. I'm going to sleep." When Naru set his eyes on the window, Mai watched him until her eyes became heavy and sleep overpowered her.

 _The next day..._

"Mai, tea."

Mai sighed and trudged to the kitchen to make a fresh kettle. It had been a trying morning for them all, to say the least. Naru forced Ayako to make charm after charm in light of Mai's dream. Masako had walked in on Mai using the bathroom and they had gotten into a heated argument, after which John stuck a paper on the open bathroom door that read vacant on one side and occupied on the other, to flip as needed. Monk had burned a pancake and the air was so stuffy the open windows did nothing.

To say they were all miserable was an understatement.

Mai put the tray of cups on the table and took the first cup to Naru, who did not thank her. She was taking the second cup to Lin when - clumsy as she was - she tripped over Naru's chair and splashed tea in Lin's lap.

"Oh my gosh, Lin, I'm so sorry!" she cried. She looked around for the tissues she had found on his desk the day before.

Lin stood up, and he was angry, angrier than Mai could ever have imagined. "Sorry? It's too late to say sorry! My pants are soaked and my leg is scalded!" He had her wrist in one hand and he was squeezing it painfully. He shook it.

 _"How can you be so stupid?"_ Lin roared.

Lin _never_ raised his voice.

Lin _never_ grabbed or insulted anyone.

Lin _never_ lost his temper.

Mai was so terrified from seeing all these firsts and being at the receiving end of this ugly side of Lin that her knees shook and her mouth trembled so hard she couldn't speak, she could only whimper under his glare.

What was wrong with him?

* * *

 **So guys. Maybe this isn't the best time to ask, but I have to ask. I want to upload an image for this story, but I'm not exactly sure about something. Fanfiction says not to upload an image that isn't mine or not copyrighted, so...what do I do? Can I upload some random image I find off Google or no? Anyone with the experience want to help me out please? Anything is appreciated!**

 **And let me know how much you like the chapter! A lot? A little?**

 **For next time: SOMEONE SAVE MAI! I know what happens and I'm _still_ anxious! Good thing Naru sits right next to Lin...**


	13. The Ice Prince

**Just quickly, I want to thank Ghost loves japan 77 for helping me out with my image problem (haven't decided on one yet, as you can see) and for her amazing, amazing review! It just captured every single thing I wanted this story to be and made me feel so, so, so much better about everything. Thank you so much!**

 **And now, guys, be excited. This is one of my favorite chapters of the whole story.**

 **BE.**

 **EXCITED.**

 **Let's get on with it, shall we?**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. If I did, I would know Naru and Gene's middle names.**

* * *

Mai attempted to pull her arm away a little, but Lin only squeezed her wrist harder, and she knew for certain that it would leave a bruise.

As if he knew Mai was attempting to call his name, Naru stood and turned and took Mai's wrist and yanked it away from Lin in one fluid motion, putting himself between Lin and Mai so he faced Lin, shielding Mai and holding her hand by his side. Mai felt so weak with relief she had to resist the urge to clutch Naru's shirt and sob.

"Lin," Naru said in a slow, eerie voice. "You cannot yell at my assistant. She's already dull enough as it is and I don't want to deafen her."

Since he was protecting her so sweetly, Mai decided not to kick him in the shin. Besides, she was shaking so hard she couldn't have even if she wanted to. What was up with Lin?

Lin made a grab for Mai's wrist at Naru's side, but Naru was quicker. He swiftly put her arm behind him, holding her knuckles to his back. He backed up a little, closing the distance between him and Mai so she was sheltered between him and the wall and his heels were against her toes.

"Give her to me!" Lin yelled. "She had it coming to her for a long time!"

"Lin," said Naru in that same, scary-calm voice. "Control yourself."

 _"I will not!"_

To Mai's horror, she discovered that she was clutching the back of Naru's shirt. Her knuckles were white and her hand was cramping and she couldn't let go.

"Lin, what is my name?" Naru asked suddenly.

Mai gasped. Was Lin possessed? Was this what Gene was talking about?

"Naru," Lin spat.

"My full name," he demanded.

Lin snarled. "Kazuya Shibuya."

"Lin, so help me I will exorcise you right here, right now if you do not say my real name!" His voice was harsh, so different from his usual, emotionless, bored-to-death one that Mai was taken aback. He tightened his grip on Mai's hand and backed up a little more so he was leaning a little on the wall.

The room became eerily quiet. Curious, Mai peeked out from around Naru.

Lin's features smoothened out to his usual, stoic expression, and when he spoke, his voice was expressionless as ever. "Oliver Jackson Davis," he said, calm as ever.

Mai rested her head against Naru's back and let out a sigh of relief.

"My brother's name?"

Lin frowned, but he didn't question. "Eugene Alexander Davis."

"Lin, can you remember what happened after Mai spilled your tea?"

Lin's frown deepened. "Of course. I told her to get tissues and clean up the mess while I changed."

"How did I end up between you two?"

"Naru-"

"Just answer the question, Lin."

"You stood up to get something."

"Then how did I end up holding her behind me against the wall?"

"Naru," said Lin, and his voice was as concerned as it would ever get, "You tripped over Mai's feet and stumbled."

"Lin, the house is playing with your mind. Try to remember what really happened."

Lin shook his head. "That is what I remember."

Naru reached behind himself and gently unclasped Mai's hand from his shirt. Her face burned and she tried to yank her wrist away, but he let it go himself and walked away from the wall. "You were yelling at Mai and shaking her by the arm and technically threatening her." Naru's voice was once again devoid of emotion. The earlier harshness had vanished.

Lin's eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

"This is not a joking matter."

"I apologize, Mai," Lin said, and Mai could hear the sincerity. It was unsettling to say the least. She didn't know if she could hear him go on, so she started talking herself, stumbling over her words.

"No-no! It's okay, really. It's not like you knew what was happening and you've never done anything like that before and with the house, I can't really blame you and -"

She caught sight of the gang's faces and turned a brilliant shade of red when she saw that they were staring at her and Naru. What had Naru been thinking, holding her behind him and shielding her protectively like that? Didn't he know they already teased her about it? Wasn't her confession enough evidence that if he did things like that, she would fall even harder for him? After Ayako and Monk were done with her, Masako was going to kill her. Then again, if Naru did that, he must think it not a big deal and maybe that meant the others wouldn't either.

Too late. Monk's face was red with trying to control his laughter and then he let it out and couldn't stop, completely cutting off the rest of what Mai was going to say to Lin. She put her hands on her hips and glared at him.

"What?" she challenged.

Monk wiped tears from his eyes. "It's just that - when I asked Naru what he would do if Lin started yelling at Mai, he said, 'That is between him and her,' and I told him he had no respect for ladies." He smirked mischievously. "But I guess he lied and I was wrong."

Mai's blush turned darker and darker until she was sure she was purple in the face. She didn't dare to turn around to look at Naru, but he spoke, and Mai knew he was having none of Monk's nonsense.

"I did not lie," he said coldly, swiftly putting distance between himself and Mai and going to stand by his desk. "If Lin had started yelling, it is indeed between them and not my business to interfere. However, this was not between Mai and Lin, it was between Mai and the house, and that is something I must insert myself into."

At that, Mai did turn to look at Naru. "The house?"

"Yes," Naru said. "I'll explain in simpler terms, for your sake."

Mai huffed and crossed her arms tightly over her chest and spun around, determined not to look at him, but he was not put off and continued.

"Last night, Mai's dream indicated that the house would play with our minds and trick us. The house got a hold of Lin's mind and body, too, and lead him to do things that he was not aware of. It is not a full-on possession - Miss Matsuzaki's charms are too powerful for that - but something altogether different, something that is rare and unheard of. When I asked him questions whose answers the house could not know, the house had to release him to allow him to answer.

"If anyone does not seem to be in their right state of mind, do not be fooled. In this case, I knew Lin was psychologically incapable of yelling at or grabbing Mai. In addition, Mai spills Lin's tea on him at an average of about once a week, and it is not something that he would get even remotely upset over, as you can see in what he thought his actions were.

"Lin, change. Mai, mop up the tea and heat up the rest. It's cold now. The rest of you, shut your mouths before flies go in and try to keep them shut while I go over these papers in silence."

With that, the ice prince sat down as if he hadn't just freed his knight and saved his princess and began shuffling papers on his desk.

* * *

 **So...how was it? Enough to be one of your favorite chapters of the story like it is for me? Let me know in the reviews what you think!**

 **Also...anyone know Naru and Gene's middle names? I just made some up, but I'd like to fix them to the right ones if they have them.**

 **For next time: A slave driver, research, and too much teasing.**


	14. Not Going Anywhere

**Everyone ready to go back to school - those of you who _are_ anyways? I know I'm not. School is yuck. **

**The chapter's mostly filler and explanations by our very favorite narcissist. Hopefully the next chapter will be a bit more interesting...**

 **I do not own Ghost Hunt. If I did, Ayako and Monk would bother Mai like this a lot.**

* * *

Mai was going to die.

"C'mon, Mai, admit it! He _loves_ you!"

"He does not!" she protested.

"Hey, she's right!"

"Maybe you should try kissing him. Then you'll know!"

Mai was horrified. "He would fire me!"

"No, he won't. Not when he looks at you like that."

"Ayako!"

Mai pressed a hand to her flaming cheeks and shook her head. She tried to go back inside the house, but Monk caught her around the waist and spun her around.

"Where do you think you're going? We're not done until you agree to go demand a kiss from him!"

Mai groaned. Her face was so hot so thought it was going to melt off. "Guys...he's going to hear and kill _all_ of us."

"He won't hear us. We're far enough."

Ayako and Monk had been ordered to leave when Naru decided they were making way too much noise for him to concentrate. The two hadn't wasted time in dragging Mai out with them near an old, dilapidated shed, and were now teasing her mercilessly.

Mai pulled her arm, but Monk held on fast. "Monk!" she begged.

Monk hugged her tight. "Don't worry, Mai, I won't let him hurt you. I'll watch you guys and make sure nothing bad happens."

If possible, Mai's face turned redder. "Nothing is happening!" she cried, finally succeeding in wriggling away from his grasp - only to be scooped up by Ayako.

"Mai, what are you so scared of if everyone gets it except for you?" she asked.

A certain narcissist's agitated smile as he asked her a heartbreaking question out that day in the woods throbbed against Mai's eyelids and she forgot how to answer. She blinked hard and opened her mouth to speak, but Ayako's hold had gotten protective and serious.

"What is it? Did he hurt you? Did someone else hurt you?" she whispered anxiously, eyes boring into Mai's, trying to read them.

"No!" Mai tore away from her gaze. "He - when I -" Suddenly, her confession was too embarrassing to talk about. "When I thought about it, I realized its nothing."

"Then why is your face so red?" Ayako demanded.

"And why do you still hang around him?" Monk asked.

"My face is red because it does that when people talk about crushes, and I hang around him because I need the job!" Mai finished yelling and glared at them both, panting slightly.

Too late, she realized that she had been extremely loud.

* * *

Naru stared at the old papers before him, trying to discern the answer. It was here, he was sure of it. Yasu had brought him all of the house's original important documents at his request. It contained hand-drawn blueprints, yellowing title deeds, and grainy pictures. How Yasu had managed to get the information, Naru didn't know, but he guessed that it involved extensive use of his quick wit and flashing smile.

He used that flashing smile on Mai too much…

Naru closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Why did every thought of his eventually lead to Mai? It was troubling to say the least.

Naru carefully set aside an old paper and was starting on the next one when raised voices filled his ears. He pushed away the irritation and tried to concentrate when he heard Mai's voice, loud and clearly embarrassed.

" _I hang around him because I need the job!_ "

Naru was not an idiot. He was a genius. He could easily tell what was happening, and her words somehow found their way to his chest where they settled on his heart and refused to leave.

 _Why are you surprised? She loves Gene, not you. You can't have her. You're the bad twin, and girls don't like you._

Naru hated reminders like Mai and Gene that proved his resolve had holes, that his barrier was flawed, that his distanced attitude still needed to be improved. He was supposed to be perfect, invincible, aloof.

And yet Mai continued to melt his barrier when she could never love him, never love him the way she loved Gene. She was only hurting both of them by planting hope in both their hearts, hope that they both knew was false but couldn't help pursuing anyway. Didn't she know that the more she tried, the harder he fell for her?

Why on earth was he thinking about this? He had a case to complete by today!

Speaking of which, he had a pile of papers he needed someone to go through. Naru looked around. Lin was doing the case report for Naru's father. John and Masako weren't doing anything - but Naru needed someone else...wanted someone else.

"Father Brown, call Mai."

"Okay."

* * *

"Mai!" John called from the front door.

Mai wriggled free as Ayako and Monk were momentarily distracted. "John!" she yelled back happily, giving him a wave.

"Shibuya's asking for you."

Mai's face flamed. What if he had heard? Oh, God, he was going to fire her for saying something such a thing.

"Coming," she said weakly, her head hung in shame.

There was a noise from inside and John turned and nodded. He turned back to the door. "And he says to leave Miss Matsuzaki and Takigawa outside."

Mai escaped the pair of said people and dashed up the mansion before they could say anything. "Yes, Naru?" she panted, a little afraid. She wasn't sure what she would do if he said she was fired.

Naru put a heavy stack of papers in front of the chair wedged between him and Lin without so much as a glance backwards. "Sit here. Read through these and make a chronological list of owners with a brief overview of their ownership."

Mai sighed in relief and collapsed in the designated chair. "Hai."

Naru and Lin hadn't been sitting that far to begin with. The folding chair squashed in their middle hardly gave any leg room. Mai felt claustrophobic between her handsome boss and his silent Chinese assistant.

She tried to concentrate, she really did; it was just too hard when she was so close to Naru she could smell his cologne and shampoo.

"Mai, you have been on the same page for the past ten minutes."

The cold voice in her ear made her jerk sideways into Lin. He continued, "I knew you were slow, but I didn't know you were this incapable."

"I am! I mean, I'm not - incapable, I mean!" she spluttered. "Just- stop leaning all over me and I'll be able to concentrate. You're so fat!"

Naru frowned. "I was under the impression that you were the one leaning into _my_ chair."

Mai looked around and realized, to her utter embarrassment, that he was right.

Idiot.

She righted herself and shoved her nose into the paper to conceal her red face and scribbled furiously on the sheet of notebook paper Naru had given her. "I'm working, I'm working," she muttered.

An awkward silence ensued, punctuated only by Mai's scribbling. Finally, mercifully, Naru looked away and turned his page and Lin continued his typing. Mai closed her eyes and allowed her body to relax and mentally sigh.

Mai worked diligently for the next hour, her mind wandering less and less to her boss as she unearthed more information. The house's history was a strange and gruesome one. Deaths and disappearances filled the page. On thing she _did_ notice about Naru was that he glanced up frequently - almost feverishly - at the digital clock on his monitor.

Of course. They only had until midnight.

Then someone would die.

 _No one's dying!_ Mai mentally berated herself. _Naru will figure it out and know what to do do, and everything will be okay. He's never let me, or anyone, down before._

Mai stood up and stretched. "Naru, I'm done."

"Tea."

"JERK!" Mai fumed, hands curling into fists. "Can't even say 'thank you' or 'good job' or - or even let me take a breath. My fingers are cramping and my neck hurts and I'm going to take a break."

"After you make my tea."

Mai stomped off to the kitchen, grumbling nasty things under her breath and almost cracked the mug slamming it against the counter.

 _What a slave-driver! Not matter what I do, it never seems to be enough for him. Mai, tea. Mai, file. Mai, take temperatures of every single room in this goddamn house. Mai, don't slack. Mai, don't get distracted by my perfectly perfect face and concentrate. I might as well be chained to my desk and call him 'Master.'_

Master Narcissist...it had a nice ring to it. Mai giggled to herself as she poured the tea.

Sad, angry, happy. Naru had read her well. The thought sobered her up a little bit, so by the time she handed Naru his tea, she was in a presentable mood.

"Mai, call Miss Matsuzaki and Takigawa inside."

"What? I thought you said I could take a break!" she complained.

"I don't pay you just so you can take breaks every five minutes. Now call them in," he said imperiously.

"Whatever you say, Master Narcissist," she muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" His icy voice froze her momentarily.

"Nothing!" She escaped her glare and yelled for Ayako and Monk, who were giggling and whispering like teenaged girls. Mai could guess at what they were talking about.

"Sit," the Master Narcissist commanded, so they did. He was holding a few old papers, his black notebook, and Mai's sheet of writing, she noted with some satisfaction.

"This house was built in the 1400s, and it has a long history, but what we are interested in is the year 1839. A man by the name of Hayate Sato disappeared that year. He lived alone.

"Since his was the first disappearance documented, I looked into the house records from 1839. Here are the blueprints and the title deed and the housing agent's note. And this is a newspaper article. Notice the date: 1843.

"Hayate Sato disappeared from his house and the two policemen assigned to the job did as well. The date of their disappearance: the winter solstice. After that, there were no more disappearances until a young foreign couple moved into the house, six months later." Naru shifted some newspapers. "Both failed to show up to the wife's parents' home for a Christmas party. We can assume that they, too, disappeared on the winter solstice.

"So we are left to investigate Hayate Sato. He was the first disappearance, yet he did not die anytime in winter, so I went through the newspapers at this time." He placed one on the table.

"Strange markings had been found around the house following the disappearance of the two policemen. Here are the pictures. Lin and I have examined them with the same conclusion.

"Hayate Sato made a deal with a demon."

"No wonder all the trees here are angry and bitter," Ayako said.

Naru went on. "Yasu called a few people related to Hayate Sato and found someone willing to talk. They told him he had cancer and would probably have died young if he hadn't disappeared. I've concluded that Hayate Sato didn't want to die just yet from the cancer and made a deal with a demon. If he found the demon before the dawn of every winter solstice a sacrifice with considerable power, he would live."

"So, um…" Monk pulled listlessly at his collar. "Why are we staying here again?"

Naru began cleaning up his papers. "If I had a choice, we wouldn't be here, as I stated before. However the house won't be keen on letting all of us go. I will stay behind to ensure that anyone who wants to leave will be able to do so."

Mai looked at him. How could he be so calm about it? Did Naru even know the first thing about demons?

"That includes you, too, Mai. Being my assistant instead of a consultant doesn't mean you have to stay."

Mai crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. "I'm staying."

"You don't understand the dangers."

Mai tried to control her flush as she said, "I understand that you have never let anyone down before."

Something dark flitted behind Naru's gaze, and he turned away from her. Only then did Mai remember that he blamed himself for Gene's death, and she regretted making him remember. She resisted the urge to take his hand and yell at him that he couldn't have prevented it, but she shoved her hands deep into her pockets. He would not appreciate physical contact from his silly little assistant.

"I'm not leaving, either," Ayako announced with a toss of her fiery hair.

"Me neither."

"I'm staying."

"I'm not going anywhere."

Mai was the only one close enough to hear him mutter, "Fools."

* * *

 **So...how was it? Did it bore you to death? For those of you who did skip all the huge paragraphs (and I know you're out there!) - yes, that's me too. Less rambling and more explaining is my kind of story. But stuff has just _got_ to make sense somehow for those who want the complete mystery, you know?**

 **For next time: a dream, a moment of insanity, and the library again.**


	15. To the Brink of Madness

**I know I usually update faster than this, but this chapter is extra long and I hope the wait was worth it!**

 **Those of you guys who _do_ go to school - ready for it? I know I'm not. School is yuck. School is the reason this chapter is so late. I hate school.**

 **I do not own Ghost Hunt. Sigh. I wish I did.**

* * *

Gene wasn't there, but Mai knew it was a dream.

She was sitting at a desk, writing furiously in a leather bound book, her quill flying across cream-colored paper.

 _Faster, faster._

She was humming a quick, bouncy tune as she wrote, but her breath was so constricted it came out weak and choppy.

 _Faster, faster._

As she stopped to dip her quill in the ink bottle, a crash from outside made her heart stop.

The candle flickered but stayed on.

She shook herself from her stupor and began to write again.

 _Faster._

This time, the crash shook the room. The desk trembled and the ink pot spilled, staining the desk and a part of the notebook. She shook from head to toe, fighting tears and struggling to breathe. She looked up at the door, where the charm-filled papers with beginning to blacken and shrivel.

There was not long now. Terror filled her. She swallowed hard and swiped at a tear, feeling the slick ink that left a mark on her cheek. She couldn't remember when she had dirtied her hand, but when she began writing again, she noticed that there was ink all over it.

The candle flickered again and went out, plunging the room into darkness.

A low growl came from outside the door. The door began shaking as a violent banging began on it.

Where was the moon?

She threw down the quill and felt her way to the window. She pulled up the window seat cushion, shoved the diary underneath, and then stood up straight. She wiped the last tears from her cheek and took a deep, shuddering breath.

She had known from the beginning that it was over.

* * *

The hand on her shoulder made her jump.

Heart hammering in her chest, Mai sucked in a deep breath to calm her nerves when she saw that it was only Masako.

"Are you alright?" the medium asked.

Mai blinked and tried to get her bearings. "Yes?"

Masako stared. "You are crying."

Mai frowned and touched her cheek. Her fingers came away wet, and she hastily wiped her face. Why was she always crying?

Masako looked at her expectantly.

"It was just a dream," Mai grumbled. "I'm not really crying."

"A dream?"

Naru's voice made Mai's heart leap to her head and insides turn to mush all of a sudden.

 _Why?_ Mai fumed. _Why can't I have this effect on him? Why does it have to be me? Why does the slightest noise still make me so…_

Mai didn't finish her thought because Naru made her feel lovesick.

"Mai."

He sounded irritated.

No, it wasn't real irritation. It was anxiety _and_ irritation. Right. She was taking up precious time that he could be using trying to fix the problem before midnight.

Mai turned to face him. "Yeah?"

"The dream," Naru repeated. Now he was only irritated.

"Oh, yeah. The dream." Mai struggled to block out Naru's face and concentrate. _Not handsome. Not gorgeous. Not staring at me._

Mai cleared her throat as that last thought invaded her mind and pulled at her collar. "Um, I think I was an owner of this house. I was in the library and...something was trying to get in. I think - I think it _did_ get in and…" She trailed off.

Naru didn't prod her any further and Mai was glad. Her throat felt a little dry.\

"We have to find the base of the house," Naru addressed everyone. He had turned his back on the group and was now shuffling papers on his desk. He took out a floor plan and examined it. "There should be something in the original part that might help us end this. That part of the house also should not move or change in any way, as it probably belongs to the demon that Hayate Sato dealt with. While the man controls the rest of the house, the demon must have ultimate control over the sacrificial altar.

Masako went white. "Sacrificial?"

"For the people that are killed for the demon," Naru said, as if people were killed every day by demons where he came from. His voice betrayed no emotion, no fear, no anger, no worry. Mai wondered how he managed to keep that icy calm all the time. How did he dispel all that pent-up emotion?

"Father Brown, will you be okay alone here?"

"Yes, of course," John said immediately, ever the acquiescent friend.

"Lin, Ayako, take Mai. Miss Hara, Takigawa, come with me. Father Brown, if we aren't back within the hour, don't try to find us. If we're not back by noon, leave. Evacuate the town and leave."

John went a little pale. "O-okay," he whispered, and Mai knew he would follow Naru's orders, not because he was a faithful friend, but because there was nothing else he could do.

"Come on, Mai," Ayako called from the door, where she and Lin were already standing.

"Coming!" Mai pushed the image of John evacuating the people from the town to the back of her mind and ran after them.

"Mai."

She stopped at the door, almost turning involuntarily at the sound of his voice, mentally berating herself for allowing him to have such a profound effect on her.

"Yeah?" She hoped against hope that her voice hadn't turned out a squeak.

He looked so beautiful, his face turned towards her and his eyes staring into hers. And he spoke with that beautiful voice.

"Don't get lost," he said flatly.

"UGH, JERK!" Mai yelled and leapt at him. Ayako caught her around the waist and dragged her out of the room, but Mai was sure she had seen a smirk.

They walked in silence for a while, wordlessly following Mai wherever she turned. Lin had thought to bring two flashlights, and Mai was glad for their small glow.

 _Base of the house, base of the house, base of the house,_ she thought, over and over again, but she only felt a small pulling. There was no immediate, clear voice in her head, no warm tugging through the endless hallways. Before, she had welcomed Gene's presence in her head, but now, there was nothing.

Maybe it was because she wasn't concentrating hard enough. She kept finding herself dreaming about Naru's half-smirk, the way one of his eyes became narrower when he gave her on. Gosh, how desperately she hoped he would give her another one.

 _No! He was so mean!_

 _He was so nice last night. So kind and caring and -_

Mai shook her head regretfully and tried concentrating on the Ayako's heels clicking against the floor beside her. She didn't want a redo of her mishap with John.

"Lin, will you speak to Naru about using his PK?" Ayako asked. Her voice was snappish and tired and worried.

Lin was as stoic as ever. "As I see fit."

"Well, I do hope you see his killing himself as unfit," Ayako grumbled. When Lin didn't answer, she went on heedlessly. "I don't know what the heck is wrong with him, but he needs to tone it down. I understand that teenagers are impulsive and heedless and think they're invincible, but this is getting ridiculous."

Mai was only half listening to Ayako's rant. She was mostly finding it extremely amusing that Ayako was merely just looking for someone to take her emotions out on. Lin was not very vocal, and the perfect candidate to yell at.

Her mind strayed once more to her boss and she remembered something she had been thinking about. "Lin," she said as Ayako paused to take a breath. "What does Naru do when he's angry or sad or something?"

"N-nothing? He doesn't shout or snap or - or hit things?"

"No."

Mai couldn't believe it. He had to do _something._ Maybe he...read books? Wrote theses? What did child prodigies do?

Lin spoke, and Mai cried out a little. When both adults gave her a look, she murmured a sheepish apology and rubbed away the gooseflesh on her arm. The incessant darkness was making her jumpy.

"He used to," Lin repeated in a quieter voice. "He used to use his PK when he thought no one was watching him. Gene would always know, of course, but Naru only did it maybe four times anyways. He was the less emotional of the two. Then Gene died and Naru became completely unemotional."

Mai was stunned into speechlessness. She couldn't quiet figure out which was the bigger shock: Lin speaking five whole sentences of his own free will, or Nary becoming a heartless zombie after the death of his twin brother.

Ayako, however, was completely capable of snapping. "You call using his PK twice already 'unemotional?'"

"He spoke to me about it this morning. He said it must be the house."

"Oh, yeah, blame his attitude on the evil spirit."

"He realized it after you almost hit him, and how he practically teased you into fighting him. The house is poisoning everyone's 's skin crawled at Lin's words. She felt like spiders were crawling up her neck and arms and down her back. And had the flashlight's glow always been this dim?

Something skittered across the floor behind them. Mai screamed and whipped around.

Lin and Ayako were slower. The priestess's hand clamped down hard on Mai's shoulder. "What? Where is it?"

"It was -" Mai took a shaky breath. "It was _crawling._ "

Ayako frowned. "What was?"

"You-you didn't hear it?"

"No…"

"Lin, you must have heard it!" Mai cried, thoroughly confused.

"My shiki have informed me that there is nothing here."

"I'm not imagining things!" Mai protested. Her heart thudded against her ribs. What if she was? What if she really was going crazy?

Ayako turned Mai back around by the shoulders. "It's okay, Mai, it was probably just a mouse." She shone her flashlight across the hall. "See? There's nothing there now."

Mai reluctantly began walking again with the two adults. She crossed her arms tightly over her chest and tried to ignore the prickly feeling at the back of her neck.

Within a minute, Lin's flashlight sputtered and died. Mai eyed the one remaining in Ayako's hand apprehensively.

"Mai? Are you okay? You're shaking." Ayako drew an arm around her shoulders and held her against herself.

She was shaking? When had that started?

The flashlight blinked a few times. Bile rose up in Mai's throat.

"Mai?"

If the flashlight went out, she would lose her mind. She would go insane. She would -\

"Mai, snap out of it!"

Yes, that was right. She would snap. In half. In a million pieces. Her brains would scatter all over the house.

A multitude of whispers suddenly burst into her right ear, low and coarse and snake-like.

Something was holding her tight, too tight. It was shaking her, scaring her, it wouldn't let her run, run from the harsh whispers. They came again, more intensely this time. She couldn't take it, couldn't handle this cursed darkness anymore. Mai screamed and yanked away from her restraints and ran.

She tore down the dark hallway as fast as she could, desperate to get away from the horrible, grating noise in her ears that was the demon. However, no matter where she turned, it was there again, continuously driving out all coherent thought from her mind. She felt drowned in pain, misery, fear.

 _Happy thoughts. Think happy thoughts. I need a room. A safe place. Anywhere but this damn dark hallway. Base. Naru's there._

She turned a corner, and there was a door at the end of the narrow corridor. Something in Mai pushed her forward, put her hand on the knob, and wrenched the door open. She stumbled inside and slammed the door shut. Gasping for breath, she collapsed against it and let out a strangled sob.

Her hair was plastered to her forehead with sweat, and her heart beat uncomfortably. She pressed a hand against her chest and tried to recollect her thoughts now that the whisperings were gone and not dulling her sense anymore.

She was in a familiar room. There was a desk in the middle, bookshelves lined the walls, and there was a window seat in the corner. Mai was sitting in a carpet of blackened parchment that she hadn't noticed the first time she was in there.

The library…

No, it couldn't be. She had come in here with Monk the other day and made a giant, splintering hole in the floor.

Then again, last time the library door hadn't been at the end of a deserted hallway, either.

The window seat. The journal. The sobbing girl. The dream flashed through Mai's mind.

Mai inched towards the seat, humming quietly, wary of making another hole in the floor. Monk wasn't here to save her. _No one_ was here to save her this time.

She reached the desk and leaned on it heavily, tired all of a sudden.

 _No, it's the house. You're_ not _tired._

She eyed the distance between the desk and the window seat. It didn't seem like too much. She could make it before the house stopped her. If she was quick, maybe she could even avoid another splintering hole.

Only when she realized it was too late did she realize _could_ , _should_ , and _would_ were three very different things.

An icy cold hand grabbed her ankle just as Monk had grabbed it not so long ago when she took her first step towards the window seat. She threw out her hands to stop her fall, but her already-bruised chin slammed into the floor with such force that stars swam before her eyes and she thought she saw Naru.

 _Naru_ , she thought giddily.

Then the hand on her ankle yanked her back, jolting her to consciousness.

Mai screamed and flailed before she realized that would be of no use. She flipped over on her back and began reciting the nine cuts. As she did, her hand got heavier and heavier, as if she were moving it through molasses. It was getting so hard to concentrate she thought she must be swimming in it too.

 _Naru,_ she thought hopelessly.

His cold face swam once again before her, emotionless and icy. But then she saw his eyes, and it was as if she was suddenly pulling the curtain away from his face. The first time she had seen him, when he had scared her silly in a dark classroom, his face had been smiling but his eyes had not. Mai realized that, now, he never smiled anymore, but his eyes had changed. The transition had been so subtle and over the course of so many months that Mai hadn't noticed it, only taken it for granted. However, when she compared his face to the mask he had worn so long ago, it was suddenly clear, as if someone were purposely showing her the obvious difference.

Suddenly, nothing was hopeless anymore. She was full of hope and happiness and love because she knew she was never alone. She stopped struggling against the icy hand on her ankle and lay there quietly.

 _I am the Master of Manipulation_ , she thought.

She thought hard about the wooden floor she was on. It was under her, soft and pliant. She imagined the distance between her and the window seat shortening, the floor squeezing together until she was almost backed up against it.

Blindly, she thrust her hand out behind her just as the icy hand jerked her once more, but she gripped the mattress and her fingernails burned and protested, but she pulled hard and imagined the floor shortening once again, and she yanked and herself up against the hand and dragged herself onto the cushion and the hand suddenly vanished.

It was replaced by an icy draft that blew so hard and suddenly across her face that it forced tears into her eyes.

And then there was a deafening roar, and the entire floor began to collapse inwards into a giant, splintering black hole.

The desk and the bookshelves fell in. The room shook. Mai pressed herself against the window, paralyzed with fear. What if she fell in now, even after she had managed to get up here? Her chin and throat burned.

But the last of the floor fell away, and the window seat remained intact.

Now that the immediate danger was gone, Mai stretched her limb out from their cramped position. She ached all over, and her chin burned. What was she supposed to do now? How was she supposed to get out of _this_ mess? Even if someone did find he and open the door, how was she supposed to get across the giant, gaping void before her. She wished she had some sort of light. Straining her eyes in the darkness just made everything worse.

She sat against the window in defeat and contemplated whether or not she should try and fall asleep and get Gene to help her. Then she remembered how scared he had been in her dream, trying to warn her about the house, and realized it might not be the best option for him. It might hurt him. Otherwise, he would have appeared in another dream of hers by now.

A dream.

Her dream.

The journal. The girl's journal. Maybe there was something helpful in there.

Mai scooted to one side of the seat cushion, reached over, and lifted it from the opposite side.

"Crap." There was nothing there. It had to be on the other side. Why did nothing ever go the way she wanted it to? It was as if her own bad luck was mocking her. She grumbled and tried the other side.

She found a dark, leather bound black book, a little like the notebook Naru sometimes carried, except this was old and worn and dusty. Mai flipped it open to find it filled with black messy scrawl on yellowing pages marred by splashes of ink. She glanced at the dates. It was from the year 1862.

A loud banging on the door made her slam the book shut and hastily rise to her feet, unsteady on the seat. The doorknob twisted this way and that forcefully, and then the horrible banging resumed.

"Go away, Hayate Sato!" Mai yelled. She was tired and aching and done with this house. She was ready to wrap up this case and go home. "I'm sick of you!"

She could hear voices on the other side. The door suddenly rattled, hard, and the doorknob rattled along with the force of the blow once, twice, three times.

Mai looked around wildly. The only thing she could do was throw the journal at the attacker, but she didn't want to lose the only clue she might have. She window was her only way out.

It was pitch black outside, as if someone had painted the outside of the window black. That couldn't be right…they hadn't even had lunch yet. Maybe if she broke it-

The banging began again, coupled with shouting this time. Mai clenched her jaw and faced the window. No demon was going to be taking her anytime soon. She gave the window a vicious kick.

"Ow!" she cried, drawing her foot back. Not an option.

The lock was shaking again, harder this time.

She would have to manipulate the house _again_. She was tired of this. She knew it was draining her energy.

Mai faced the door and the gaping black hole in the floor. She closed her eyes and tried to remember Naru the way she had in the boys' bedroom, when she had accidentally transported John and herself there instead of base without even opening a door.

Cold, beautiful Naru. The ice prince with a heart. The one who would smirk at her and watch over while she slept and talked to her after her nightmares. The one who had rejected her but wouldn't quite leave her heart.

 _Jump,_ Gene whispered.

 _What the hell,_ Mai thought. She was already crazy. Might as well.

The door cracked and gave way to whatever was behind it.

 _Gene, help me._

She jumped.

* * *

 **Soo...How was it? Worth the wait?**

 **I don't know, I can't exactly get the insanity part exactly like I want it to. The first time I wrote it, it made total sense, but now each time I re-read it, it sounds even more far-fetched. What do you think?**

 **For next time: What the heck is Mai doing? Is she going to make it? Is she going to be lost in the house forever? (Of course not, but you get the point :P)**


	16. Back from the Brink of Madness

**Sorry about the wait! I've got 5 APs this year and it's really taking up my time. Also, I went back and read the last chapter, and it has _so_ many typos. I really have to fix that. Maybe this one will be better?**

 **Anyways, let's get to the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. If I did, I would probably have deadlines and stuff and keep up with the schedule I set for myself back in summer.**

* * *

Instead of Naru, she crashed into Masako.

The medium let out an ear-piercing shriek and savagely tore into Mai's cheek with her wicked nails. Mai had the wind knocked out of her from falling on her back, and she was so bent on trying to breathe that she couldn't protest.

"Who's there?" Monk demanded from somewhere, and a fist came flying into Mai's peripheral vision. Mai opened her mouth to tell him that it was her, to stop, but she could barely gasp for air. However, a white hand suddenly caught Monk's hand and pushed it away and pulled her to her feet by the back of her shirt.

Masako and Monk stared. "Mai?"

"Judging by her facial structure, body frame, and voice - yes, this is Mai," Naru snapped irritably, releasing Mai and turning to face her. "The real question you two idiots should be asking a third is what she is doing here without Lin and Miss Matsuzaki."

"That _was_ my next question," Monk grumbled, loud enough for Naru to hear, but he paid him no attention.

Naru snatched the book from Mai's hand and held it out of her reach. "And what is the meaning of this?"

 _Nothing gets past him_ , Mai thought detachedly. She had been so intent on crashing into Naru and receiving a confused but warm welcome that this reaction had her a little thrown off.

"I, um, got it from the library…" Mai trailed off at Naru's I-am-disgusted-with-this-answer look. It suddenly infuriated her.

"Look, you damn narcissist, not all of us function at one hundred percent all the time, okay? I have just lost my mind, gotten attacked by some freaking demon or something, and jumped into a pit that probably goes all the way to hell. Then I crash into Masako here and almost have my eyeballs gouged out."

She was panting now, and well aware she looked like a dog. Masako was going to laugh at her forever, but that was the least of her concerns right now. She was angry.

"I'm a little dizzy and a _lot_ pissed off. Can you just _shut up_ for one second and let me _breathe_?"

And then it was suddenly awkwardly quiet.

It occurred to Mai that she had never said anything so hateful to him before. In a way, she was glad because he had it coming, and he had no right to question her confession. The pent up emotion was now gone. She let out a few short breaths and tried to suck in some deep ones when, suddenly, footsteps pounded right into her.

"MAI!"

Mai was roughly yanked sideways by the arm into someone warm and comforting and…

Red-haired.

Ayako.

Oops.

Ayako pushed her away from herself and shook her. "YOU FOOL! IDIOT! HOW COULD YOU RUN AWAY LIKE THAT?" She was yelling and sobbing at the same time, fat tears that she didn't bother to wipe away dripping down her cheeks. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!" she screeched. "YOU-I THOUGHT YOU-I THOUGHT-I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!"

She choked and gave Mai another half-hearted shake and swiped at a tear sloppily.

Mai looked down in shame. While Naru was cold and demeaning, Ayako was all fury from worry. "Sorry," she mumbled, trying to keep her own tears from rising.

Ayako burst into sobs and pulled her against her in a crushing hug. Mai was vaguely aware of the fact that Lin was telling Naru and the others what had happened in hushed tones. Everyone was giving them a wide berth.

"Mai," she whispered, voice cracking, tears falling in a steady stream and wetting her hair. "Mai, my baby." She pressed her lips to Mai's head and held her tighter.

Mai swallowed hard. What had she done? How could she have reduced Ayako - fiery, strong-willed, tough Ayako - to tears?

"I'm sorry, I didn't - didn't realize how far I'd gone and -"

Ayako laughed suddenly, bitterly. "You - sorry?"

The tears in Mai's eyes turned into ones of frustration. "Yes, and I didn't mean it, I would never have -"

"Shut up," Ayako whispered fiercely. " _I'm_ the one who's sorry." A fresh wave of tears poured down her face and she gripped Mai closer.

"If only - if only I had been holding you better. If only I had - If only I had listened to you when you said there was a noise!" she burst out. Mai could hear her heartbeat throbbing against her ears. Now she understood why Ayako was crying so hard. Guilt was eating away at her, guilt that wouldn't be there in the first place if Mai hadn't completely lost her sanity.

"I brushed it off as nothing," Ayako continued, "and then- then you went totally still, and I thought you might be having a fit or something, and then - then you screamed so awfully and _ran._ "

"It's okay, it's all right, Ayako, it's not your fault," Mai tried unsuccessfully. "Please."

"But it is. I thought- I thought, what if the last thing I said to you was dismissing your fears as nerves. What if you _died_ and it was all my fault?" she wailed.

"Ayako, it wasn't, you -"

"Lin's shiki told us where you were. He tried opening the door but it was locked and you were shouting and I was so, _so_ scared." A shudder ran through her body. "Lin got it open and the only thing we saw was you disappearing into that black hole."

"That was you guys? I thought it was the spirit or the demon or I would never have jumped," Mai said, but the older woman was inconsolable.

"It's not your fault," she whispered. "It's mine. Forgive me, Mai."

"What? No! I'm not forgiving someone who doesn't need to ask for it! That doesn't make any sense! What kind of logic is that?" Mai handed a handkerchief Monk had slipped discreetly into her hand. "Pull yourself together, old lady, because I have a new injury now. Masako here scratched half my face off."

Ayako stopped mid-swipe, handkerchief on her tear-stained cheek, eyes frozen on Mai's face, seeming to see the three livid scratches for the first time. Suddenly, her voice wasn't cracked anymore. "Masako!" she yelled.

"She bumped into me first!" the doll-faced medium screamed, her pretty features contorted.

"How is that relevant?" Ayako yelled back. She turned Mai's face to the side so she could see better in the soft glow of Naru's flashlight. She gently touched Mai's cheek, who winced when she saw the doctor's fingers come away red.

"There's blood on your shirt," Mai said regretfully. "Sorry."

Ayako responded with a bone-crunching hug. "Don't - don't ever apologize again, you idiot!" she scolded. Mai could hear the tears behind her words and hastily surrendered.

"All right, all right. Just…" The words caught in her throat and she wrapped her arms around Ayako and rested her head against her chest. "I love you, Ayako."

"I'm adopting you, Mai."

Mai let out an involuntary giggle until Ayako gave her a glare and a little shake. "I'm serious, you fool! I swear to God, as soon as we're through with this case, you're coming home with _me._ "

Mai's heart thudded wildly. "Ayako, I'm 16, I'm fine. I already-"

"I don't care!"

Ayako's voice echoed through the hallway, and suddenly, everyone was staring at the two of them. Mai turned red and tried to look inconspicuous.

"What're you looking at?" Ayako snapped wearily at them. She wiped the last of her tears in indignation. "Why are we standing here? John must be getting worried."

Naru turned wordlessly and began to lead them back. Ayako and Mai trailed everyone.

"Mai, I'm sorry if that was too sudden. I just...you know. Anyways, what do you think?" Ayako asked.

"I, um, I couldn't possible -" Mai stammered. This was a situation she had always dreamed of when she was younger, some long lost uncle or grandparent coming to claim her, but the thought had faded away when she realized it wasn't happening. Now someone she loved was offering, and she didn't know what to do.

"It's not about can or couldn't," Ayako muttered irritably. " _I_ can. For you, it's about will or wouldn't."

"I don't really think…" She trailed off and tried again. "I mean, I'm sure it's-"

"Mai, if you think you can't say no to my face, then suck it up. And if you think _I_ can't handle a dismissal, then think again, little girl."

"That's not it! I just can't impose on you. It's a responsibility-"

"Is that a no, you're not a responsible, or yes, you are?"

"Um…"

"Mai," Ayako said, taking Mai's arm in her hand. "I know you're old enough. I know you can do make it yourself. You're capable, and you've made it this far, and I understand that. If you want to carry on like you have, that's fine, but…" She shook her hair away from her face. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's never too late to find your family. Everyone needs someone once in awhile."

Then Ayako suddenly shrugged, as if realizing Mai was too close to tears to speak. "Think on it, then," she said in an impossibly gentle voice. "I won't ask, don't worry." And she put her arm across Mai's shoulders and they walked back to base in silence.

John went pale on seeing Mai's cheek. In all honesty, it looked worse than it felt, and she told him so, but it didn't do much. It did look pretty awful. Masako's nails were wicked sharp, and three puffy scratches marred Mai's face. Monk crushed her in a hug and told her she was still his beautiful little girl.

WHACK!

"Ow!" Monk curled up into a ball and held his head where Ayako had hit him. "What was that for?"

"You sound like some creepy old man!"

"I'm not old, you old lady!"

"Who're you calling old?"

Naru stayed at his desk, reading the journal, and told them to shut up and make lunch. He did not ask for tea, and that was a little troubling for Mai. When Ayako left to change her blood-stained blouse, Mai realized that she also had blood on her own shirt. She sighed and got a hoodie from her backpack and went into the bathroom to change out of her soiled one.

She found a black hair ribbon in her pocket, and, distracted, began playing with it. She tried putting it in her hair, but it was too silky and wouldn't stay put. Finally, she slumped in defeat, knowing she could never achieve Masako's doll-like appearance. Maybe Naru-

 _No,_ Mai told herself strictly. _Naru nothing. He doesn't like you, and he made it obvious enough after that silly confession. And you just ruined everything by snapping at him so harshly. Naru doesn't just not like you, he hates you!_

Frustrated and disheartened, Mai stuffed the ribbon back in her pocket and finished washing her blood-soaked sleeve and draped it over an empty chair and laid down tiredly on the couch, her head on Monk's lap. Withing moments, she was asleep.

But even sleep could not bring her peace.

* * *

She was in a dark room, and she could barely see in the dim light. She squinted at the boy in front of her. "N-Naru?"

It was a surprise to see him in her dream. Only Gene could, right? What was Naru doing here? And why was he crouched on the floor like that?

"Don't," he groaned and half-turned to face her.

Mai gasped. His lips were cracked, and blood stained his mouth and cheek. One eye was purple and the other was bloodshot. His hands were tired in front of him. To see the calm and collected Master Narcissist like this made Mai's stomach churn with terror.

She leapt forward for him, to help him, but he twisted away from her and back so she could see him head-on. His shirt was torn at the shoulder and stained with red.

"Leave, please," he whispered desperately. Blood pulsed from the corner of his mouth. "Don't come looking."

"Naru!" Mai cried heedlessly, reaching for him again, but then she lost her footing, and everything turned black.

* * *

She shot up from Monk's warm lap. "NARU!" she yelled, looking around wildly. Where was he?

Monk frowned at her. "He went outside to think or something."

"No!" Mai cried. She ran to the front door and stuck her head out.

"NARU!" she screamed.

No one was there.

Mai turned back to find Lin and Monk standing behind her. Ayako and Masako and even John were all on their feet. "He's not there!" she said. "He's not there anymore!"

"Mai, speak coherently," Lin commanded. "What's wrong?"

"The house-" Mai managed, fear pushing her breath from her lungs. "It's killing him - he's hurt - he's - he's dying."

* * *

 **I always imagined Ayako making that offer. In my head, she always did end up adopting Mai. Let's see what Mai says in a few chapters, shall we?**

 **For next time: Please let Naru be okay!**


	17. To Hate or Not to Hate

**So, guys, I could blame school and everything for this _super_ late update, but who am I kidding. I'm just a really lazy person. I am so glad that doutlesslover223 reviewed a few days ago. It kind of jerked me back into doing work. **

**Anyways, here we go!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. If I did, I would make Monk and Ayako Mai's parents.**

* * *

"Dying? He is outside, Mai," Masako interrupted.

Mai shook her head. "He's not. I saw him in a dream!"

"Mai, I think -"

She didn't wait for Monk to finish. They didn't understand! None of them did! Time was running out. "Come on, guys, we have to find him _now!"_

Without waiting for a reply, she dashed out the door and down the hall. She could hear footsteps pounding after her. In her panic, she didn't think of locating him by asking Gene. She just ran, screaming his name, and suddenly, she was in a room, and he was there in the corner.

"Naru!" she cried in relief, and made for his side, but as soon as she entered the room, the door slammed shut, and it was suddenly impossibly dark. Mai couldn't see her hand in front of her face.

Where was everyone? Hadn't they been running behind her?

"Monk?" she whispered in the darkness. Her breath hitched when she didn't receive a reply, but she tried to look on the bright side. At least she knew one person was here.

"Naru?"

A maniacal laugh filled her ear. Mai yelped and stumbled backwards and fell when something cold shoved her sideways. Mai sucked in shallow breaths and struggled to her feet, only to find herself backed up against the wall.

" _Naru!_ " the maniacal voice mimicked in her ear again. Mai shrank into the corner and squeezed her eyes shut even though there was nothing to see. Cold breath wafted down her neck and sent shivers down her spine.

The voice giggled insanely. "Your precious Naru's not here. Naru was _never_ here!" it cackled joyfully.

 _Never here?_ Mai thought through her confusion and fear. _Then where-_

Suddenly, a door slammed open, and light flooded the room. The cold breath and the incessant laughter disappeared. Mai turned her face to find Naru, with his hand on the door and an angry look on his face.

She was left alone in the room with her boss glaring at her.

"Mai, explain yourself!" Naru demanded.

His voice was so cold and angry that Mai didn't hesitate. "I-I saw you in a room - I mean, I went to sleep and had a dream and you were there and the house was - was killing you or something because you had a cut on your arm and...and...and then you said _not_ to come looking for you. When I woke up, Monk said you went out to think but I called for you and you weren't there, so I thought - I thought maybe the dream was happening then and I thought everyone was following me but they weren't so when I came in here and saw you - I mean, I don't think it was you because something said you were never here and - and then something pushed me and - and then it…"

"And then it?" Naru prompted impatiently.

"And then it...went away," Mai finished lamely. She looked at the wall, at her hands, at the floor - anywhere but Naru.

He sighed irritably. "You based everything on what you _thought_. This company is called Shibuya Psychic Research. _Research._ We're based on face. You can't just go running around based off hunches."

"I'm sorry, Naru," Mai whispered. She didn't know what else to say. She really had been terrified for him. She hadn't been thinking. Was that so wrong? So hard to believe? So impossible to forgive?

Naru only turned on his heel and walked out of the room. Mai had no choice but to hang her head and follow him back to base.

Only John and Masako remained. "Naru, you're alright!" Masako exclaimed, jumping to her feet.

"Mai!" John called. Mai ran over to him gratefully and threw her arms around his neck, trying to forget Naru's coldness in John's warm personality. She sank into the couch and relaxed.

"We were real worried about you, Mai," John said softly, and Mai felt an involuntary smile spread across her face. He could make anyone feel loved and special.

"Miss Hara, come with me," said Naru abruptly, interrupting John's kind words. "John, we're going to find the rest of the team."

"Okay."

The door closed, and with that, Mai's emotions came spilling out.

"John, I've made Naru so angry. I said horrible things to him earlier when we went to find the base of the house and now he'll never forgive me. Then just now I was so stupid and went out running because I had a nightmare and now-now-" Mai buried her head in his chest. "Now he's going to hate me forever!"

"He doesn't hate you, Mai," John reassured her. "He could never hate you. Don't judge yourself so harshly. He will always forgive you."

"But what if - what if -" Mai struggle to put her thoughts into words.

John gave her his sweet, gentle smile. "What if all the barriers that you've removed from his heart return and you can never bring them back down?"

"Yeah."

"After you ran out of the room with Lin after you, Kazuya came out of the shed in the yard and ran up to the house. Of course, you know he doesn't show any emotion, but at that point, everyone could tell what he was thinking. He yelled for you just as you had yelled for him. Monk explained in bits and pieces and he ran out to find you all by himself.

"His tendency to be closed off is an effort to conceal his emotions. It's just an immediate, knee-jerk reaction. He'll come back to his senses soon enough and forgive you. Don't doubt that."

Mai was so full of love for the kind, young priest that she couldn't imagine anyone else whose side she would rather be at that moment. She raised her face and kissed his cheek timidly. "John...Thanks. I don't know what you do without a John in your life."

The priest laughed. "I've got SPR and my missionary work and brothers and sisters wherever I look. I don't need another me."

They were silent for a while, enjoying the basic pleasure of another human being's company. The comfortable silence was lulling Mai into unconsciousness when the door banged open.

"MAI!"

Ayako and Monk flew at Mai, who was spared for a moment because she was sitting next to John. In the next instant, however, Monk had her in his arms and was squeezing her to death.

"Mai, don't scare me like that!" he wailed.

"STUPID MONK!" Ayako's bag materialized from nowhere and came crashing down on Monk's head. "YOU'RE KILLING HER!"

Ayako managed to extract Mai from his arms and held her out at arm's length and screamed, "Mai, how many times do I have to tell you to _stop doing dumb things?_ "

"Sorry," Mai murmured.

Ayako shook her head. "Do I have to put a leash on you or something? Every half hour you're running away and getting hurt or attacked. You're grounded, young lady!"

Mai looked around at their misshapen base. A hopeless giggle escaped her.

Ayako sighed and pulled her into a hug.

Ayako and Monk made sandwiches for lunch. Naru ate at his desk. Mai tried her best to ignore the fact that he hadn't asked for tea.

 _Why should it upset me? I'm glad that stupid slave driver isn't making me do more work. I'm overjoyed!_

 _I'm miserable._

After lunch, Mai was relaxing on the couch when Monk draped an arm lazily across her shoulders. "Ready to go back to school tomorrow?"

"Not tomorrow!" Mai complained, and then suddenly caught herself. What she wouldn't give to go back to school tomorrow if it meant that she would still be among the living. That they would _all_ be alive.

"Well, at least you finished your bio," said Monk. "Cheer up."

Mai put her face in her hands. "I still have math and lit."

"Go get it right now, young lady!" Ayako commanded. "How are you ever going to get anywhere in life if you don't study?"

Mai rolled her eyes. "Same as you got here, old lady," she muttered, and danced out of Ayako's reach to get her stuff.

She worked for an hour, at which point Naru stood with the girl's journal and his own black notebook in hand. He sat in a chair facing the rest of them. Everyone stopped talking and waited expectantly. Mai tried hard not to look at him and stared at Ayako's manicured fingernails instead.

"Nigumi Tetsuya lived here about one hundred and fifty years ago, during the year 1862. In her diary, she describes her abilities, which I have concluded must be PK-LT. She wasn't too strong, but the fact that she was aware of her abilities made her dangerous to the house.

"She learned through her intuition and dreams ways to combat the house's effects. This included large groups of people, boxes, twins, and singing. She also had dreams about the history of this house. Mostly it was about the people who died here; however, a recurring dream that she had was of a place she calls the prison.

"There was usually blood in the room. It was lit by candles, and there was an altar in the center: a giant slab of stone, which was also covered in blood. The most important thing, however, is that she would sometimes dream of the point in time that Hayate Sato made his deal with the demon.

"There were the usual incantations and chants. The demon came as a column of black fire. Descriptions aside, Nigumi Tetsuya mentioned something vital."

Naru paused to make sure everyone was listening. He didn't glance pointedly at Mai, as he usually did at such a point, and that saddened her more than she cared to admit - even to herself.

"She described a seal in the center of the room, directly under the altar. This is the seal that binds the demon and Hayate Sato to the house and each other. As long as it is intact, they are both bound. If the seal is broken, Hayate Sato will no longer be bound to the demon, and the demon no longer attached to the house. In essence, since Hayate Sato is only present though the trading of his soul, he will go with the demon if the house can no longer anchor them."

"So… we need to destroy the seal," Monk summed up.

"The seal is inscribed into the stone floor," Naru said dryly. "I highly doubt that it will be easy."

"Can we efface it instead?" John asked. "Or change it?"

"Changing it would require a massive amount of energy, something none of us have. Although we might not be aware of it, the demon and Hayate Sato are already sapping our strength. In any case, we don't have the means to change the seal to suit us. Effacing it is our best option, though that will require a lot of physical strength.

"I do not know to what extent we may need to efface it; a single chip might be enough, or we might need to cut a few inches into the stone. We need to be ready for either situation, and we need to make do with whatever is in this house. Miss Matsuzaki, John, look in the kitchen. Lin and I will look in the shed. The rest of you, see what you can find in the bathroom."

For some reason, the fact that Naru hadn't said her name made Mai feel even worse. Then she shook her head of stupid thoughts, stuck a frown on her face to avoid dreaming of her boss, and marched into the bathroom behind Monk and Masako.

It turned out there was not enough space in the bathroom for three people. Masako wrinkled her nose and hid behind the sleeve of her kimono. "I will stand outside."

Mai wanted to hit her perfect face. She realized the problem was Naru and tried to control it, but she just couldn't let go of her anger.

Monk slyly winked at Mai as he pulled the cover off the toilet's water tank and shoved it towards Masako. "Great. Then you can help carry stuff out of here."

Masako turned green.

Mai looked away to to hide her smile.

It took them fifteen minutes to clear out the bathroom of potential weapons. Smiling a little too much, Monk had asked Masako to bring the tank cover back to the bathroom, and so now they were left with the towel bar, the mirror, and the metal pipe Mai had undone with a wrench from the shed. From the kitchen, Ayako and John had brought in a large trayful of knives and a lighter. From the shed, Naru and Lin had brought in all sorts of sharp and heavy tools and nails.

"What's the mirror for?" John asked.

"We don't need it," Naru said. "Put it back."

Mai felt her face flush. She had been the one to point it out to Monk, and now Naru wanted to dismiss it?

"The mirror," she said, "is for _you,_ in case you need Gene's help!"

At this, Naru finally looked at her. He glared icy daggers into her, boring into her eyeballs and freezing her heart. Mai took in a steadying breath and fought his ice with fire in her own eyes.

"I don't need anybody's help," Naru told her coldly. He turned away.

"Then you'll die!"

The room was frozen into silence. Mai wanted to melt into a puddle and disappear down the drain, but she balled up her fists and glared at the back of Naru's stupid black shirt because it was true. It was true he was going to if he wasn't careful and Mai didn't know what she would do without him.

Her face turned red at the thought. Mai hoped it looked like an angry flush and not a lovesick one.

Naru was as indifferent as always. He calmly took his seat and said, "Lin, divide the object up among the team. Miss Matsuzaki, make enough charms for each one of us and plenty for the room. Monk, put that mirror away. The rest of you...try not to accidentally kill yourselves with anything sharp."

Frustration and resentment and anger and worry and most of all heartbreak welled up inside of Mai and made her face feel like it was going to explode. And because that was impossible, her eyes began to burn.

 _I won't cry. Not here, not in front of anyone._ Mai swallowed hard. _I'm not some sissy. I'm not a wimp. I DON'T cry over stupid narcissistic JERKS!_

Someone grabbed her hand. Mai squeezed her eyes shut and yanked her hand away. She didn't want any pity. She wanted to punch Naru in the nose.

Suddenly, her feet weren't on the floor anymore. "Monk!" She thrashed in his arms, but by this time, they were already in the doorway. Masako and John watched the scene unfold while Lin and Naru continued to work at their computers. Ayako was nowhere to be seen.

Monk set her down outside and put his hands against her shoulders. He had an angry look in his eyes, and Mai was about to scream that he was possessed when he spoke.

"I swear, Mai, if you say the word, I will go beat him up right now."

Mai shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. Her throat was too clogged up to speak.

Monk's voice softened. He put his hands on her cheeks. "Mai," he said softly. "It's okay to cry."

 _No, I won't do it. I'm not some lovesick puppy. I hate Naru._

Monk put an arm around her shoulder. "Sometimes, you just have to let it out, you know?"

 _I hate him. He's a jerk. I'm quitting this job as soon as we get back. His stupid attitude is not worth the paycheck._

"Mai?"

 _I hate him I hate him I hate him I hate him I hate him._

"Mai, it'll be okay."

When she didn't answer, he sighed a little, and hugged her.

Suddenly, Mai couldn't keep the tears in anymore. Tears slid down her face, cooling her heated cheek and relieving her aching throat. Monk pressed his lips into her hair and Mai realized that she was so loved by him and Ayako and Lin and John and even Masako that it didn't matter if Naru didn't.

"You just give the signal, Mai, and he will be on the floor."

Mai laughed shakily. "I think he knows karate. He knocked you out with a cool kick when you were possessed."

"Hey, don't you think _I_ know karate?"

Mai's face broke into a smile. "You're a monk. You do music tours in your free time. You're not exactly the picture of karate."

Monk huffed. "If you must know, I have a green belt in taekwondo."

Mai giggled, feeling much better. "That's only halfway there."

Monk didn't dignify that with an answer. He put his cheek against hers. "He loves you, Mai."

"I hate him."

"He's concerned for you and a little confused as to why."

"He needs to be concerned for other people if it means being a jerk."

"But you're the only one he loves."

"Monk, not this crap again! I just - I just wish he wasn't so bipolar. Sometimes he's so nice and then sometimes - sometimes I disgust him!"

"In a way, I guess you do. He's disgusted by the fact that a girl can make him love so much without trying. Maybe he misses Gene."

"Monk-"

"Mai, I don't care what you think. You're only 16, okay? No offense, but you need to get over the fact that you think you know Naru's feelings. Me. I'm 25. I've seen hundreds of couples. You guys are totally in love."

Mai put her face back in her hands. "Aren't you supposed to be putting the mirror back?"

"Ayako did it for me. Also, she almost killed Naru in there. You should've seen her. She didn't need any black belt or anything."

Mai smiled and then sighed. "Monk, how am I supposed to apologize to him?"

Mai squished her against himself. "You can't forgive someone you were never mad at in the first place."

"You were eavesdropping on mine and Ayako's conversation!"

"I couldn't help it! You guys were so loud! Anyways, he loves you, and he'll get over it. It would only inflate his ego if you apologized."

"But what if he never talks to me again?"

"He'll need something soon enough. Besides, he has a tea addiction. He'll ask for that regardless."

There was a silence. Then Mai stood up and stretched out her tired limbs.

"Monk."

"What?"

When she didn't say anything, he turned to look at her. "What is it?"

"Nothing." Mai smiled at him. "I just wanted to say your name."

Monk grinned at her as an idea came to his mind. "You should say that to Naru. Just to see his reaction."

"Monk, NO."

"I dare you to do it."

"I've got more sense than that."

"I bet you five thousand yen you can't do it."

"Five thousand?"

"It would be so worth it."

"Wasting money is bad!"

"Does that mean you'll do it?"

"No."

They reached the door. "Now, if you want me to beat him up, cough once and sneeze twice, got it?"

Mai rolled her eyes. "Sure."

"Good. Now go in there and show him who's boss."

"Monk, Naru _is_ the boss."

"Whatever." Monk didn't voice the opinion that he would do whatever she wanted if she would only kiss him. He kept it to himself and went in after her.

Lin wordlessly handed her two small kitchen knives with plastic casing. Then he gave Monk two big ones and a hammer.

"Careful," he warned as Monk lazily swung the hammer like a bat.

"It's all good," Monk said, but he put it down. "So, what's for dinner?"

"We just had lunch," Ayako snapped. "If you want something, go get it yourself!"

"Whoa, who made you angry?" Monk stretched out on the couch, indifferent to the priestess's anger.

Mai sat next to Ayako in an attempt to pacify her. "I think we're all pretty worked up right now," she said.

"That's an understatement." Ayako glared at Monk, but he only closed his eyes. She turned to Mai instead. "What was that you were saying about homework?"

Mai made a face. "I wasn't."

"You were." Ayako gave her a push. "If I remember correctly, you still have that essay to do."

"I need to type it."

"There are four laptops at the front. Take your pick."

Mai eyed the desk covering one wall of the room. Lin and Naru were using one laptop each, and the remaining two sat untouched between them. She was _not_ going to lean over to get it.

"They're not mine," she managed.

"I'm sure Naru will lend you one. Just ask."

Mai turned red. "Ayako…" she groaned under breath. "He does not like me right now."

Ayako gave her a wicked smile. "You're right. He loves you!"

"Not so loud!" Mai pleaded.

"Go and ask, Mai."

"No. _I_ don't like him very much right now, either."

"Believe in yourself and all that stuff," Ayako said, and she suddenly gave her a hard, decisive shove towards Naru's chair.

Mai squeaked and stumbled and tried not to fall on him. She caught herself and stared at Naru's back apprehensively.

 _Do it for the grades,_ she thought. _I want to go to a good university. I need good grades._

"Naru?"

No response.

"Can I borrow a laptop?"

No response.

Mai's palms began to sweat. She wondered if it would be too humiliating to sit back down. Would Ayako let her sit back down? Maybe she should cough once and sneeze twice...

"Go ahead, Mai," Lin said, finally taking pity on her. He wrote something on a sheet of paper and handed it to her. "Here's the password."

Mai grabbed the top laptop and the paper and scampered back to Ayako, tripping over own feet and landing in a heap on the couch.

"That wasn't so bad, not was it, Mai?" Monk asked, grinning.

Mai stuck her tongue out at him and reflected on the fact that Ayako and Monk fought incessantly but were one unit when it came to caring for her and teasing her.

The password was a long list of seemingly random numbers and characters. Mai sighed a little and then scolded herself. Would the great Oliver Davis, the narcissistic Naru, keep something revealing in his password? What did she expect - Mai Taniyama?

After her essay, Mai left the laptop on the table and curled up on the sofa with her head in Ayako's lap. She definitely needed some sleep before their 'showdown' at midnight. Soon, she fell asleep.

Into a horrible nightmare.

* * *

 **Guys, we're nearing the end. This is the sort of last portion of this story. I'm kind of sad, but also happy. I want to get on with the next one. The next chapter is a really short chapter, so hopefully I'll remember to post it soon and follow it up (also soon!) by a huge, tense chapter.**

 **For next time: Hmm. I don't really know how to describe it since it's a really quick chapter, but Naru goes back to his usual, Mai-loving self. Don't worry!**


	18. Before the Storm

**So here's the short little chapter before the next one. After this, things are going to get rough for our favorite duo!**

* * *

She was walking in the darkness, pitch black darkness.

She wanted to stop, but her legs just kept walking.

 _Keep going. Keep going,_ a voice coerced her. It wasn't hers, it wasn't Gene's; it wasn't anything she recognized.

 _Stop it!_ she wanted to cry, but her throat was clogged up with a sob.

It was so cold, too cold for the sweatshirt she was wearing. A wind whipped at her hair, her nose, her neck. It found gaps in her clothes and slithered inside and chilled her to the bone. She shivered ceaselessly. A whimper rose up in her throat when she realized she couldn't even move her arms to wrap them around herself.

 _Someone! Anyone!_ Mai thought desperately. _Ayako… Monk… Lin…. John… Masako… Naru… Gene?_

Something grabbed her arm, but it was soothing, a warm pressure, giving her relief in the terrible cold and darkness. Mai turned to come face-to-face with Gene. He was hanging onto her wrist and pulling desperately. His face was strained with worry and horror - something terrifying to see on a Naru look-alike - and the muscles on his arms and shoulders stood out as he strained to stop her.

 _Gene!_ she screamed at him.

He looked at her helplessly and repositioned his grasp so he was holding more of her arm. Mai was grateful for his warmth until she saw darkness beginning to blur the edge of Gene's figure.

 _STOP!_ she yelled, but she couldn't pull away, couldn't do anything as the darkness consumed more and more of the pale, shivering boy before her that just wouldn't let go.

And then he disappeared.

A strong, cold hand took Mai by the back of her neck and jerked her head forwards. Gooseflesh crept up her back and to her ears.

 _Walk,_ it ordered.

The silence and cold were so unbearable that Mai thought she would go insane if someone didn't find her soon.

But she kept walking.

* * *

"Mai?"

Ayako reached for Mai's arm. The girl had all of a sudden stood up and was now walking towards the wall.

Naru immediately stopped the miko. "Wait," he said, watching her closely. Her eyes were open, but… blank.

Everyone in the room watched in amazement as Mai reached forwards towards the wall, grasped not air but a solid doorknob, and wrenched open a door. The door seemed to peel away from the wall, revealing a dark corridor behind it.

"Naru-" Ayako began, but he held up a hand and strode across the room himself. Maybe Gene was guiding her, a way out or a solution to their problem. The first time had been Gene, too, after all. Naru wasn't going to interrupt again.

He watched Mai walk a few feet into the darkness and stepped outside of the base after her. Then he motioned silently for the others to follow. Lin was already at the door, but before he could step out behind Naru as well, the door slammed shut in his face.

Naru blinked and grabbed for the handle, but there was none. His fingers slid across a smooth, stone wall.

"Lin, can you hear me?" he shouted.

No answer.

Naru looked at the wall and then at Mai's retreating form. "Dammit," he growled, and ran after her.

* * *

 **OH NO! SOMEONE HELP THEM! WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO?**

 **(dramatic wailing)**

 **For next time: Be scared for them - I am!**


	19. Out of the Frying Pan

**I just want to thank all those people who found my story buried beneath the mountains of fanfics dedicated to Ghost Hunt and took the time to read it while I took that _huge_ break, and thanks to all of you who are still with me! Sorry about that, I've had tons of school work and stuff. I'm wondering if I'll even be able to continue the sequel to this until summer break again. **

**Anyways, no one wants to hear all of that. Let's get into the story!**

* * *

"Mai?"

Mai suddenly could see. The horrible darkness of her dream had given way to the darkness of a room. She had never been so happy to hear that voice before. She opened her mouth to call for him, but a cold hand clamped down on her face.

"Ooh, she also works as lover's bait!" giggled an insane voice, one Mai remembered from just a few hours ago. "Two for the price of one. What more could I want?"

Mai clawed at the hand on her face. She wanted to scream. What the heck was lover's bait? More importantly, where the heck was Naru? If he opened the door, why wasn't there any light?

As if he knew what she was thinking, there was a click, and Naru's flashlight came on in Mai's face. She blinked and squinted and tried to shield her eyes with her hands.

"Mai, what's the matter?" Naru asked, unsure.

 _Can't you see someone's hand is on my mouth?_ Mai thought angrily. She pulled at the hand again, harder this time. It released her mouth for the slightest second before clamping down on her neck and crushing her against the wall.

Mai wheezed painfully and fruitlessly reached for Naru's flashlight, his hands, the front of his shirt - anything.

"Mai?"

 _Shut the hell up and help me, you idiot scientist!_

"MAI!"

Cold hands touched Mai's neck again, but this time, they were long-fingered and a little rough. The crushing weight against her throat vanished. Mai coughed and gagged and slid down against the floor. Naru's blurry face swam. His fingers were still on her neck, sending jolts of pain every time they moved.

"Naru," she croaked, and yanked his hands from her throat. She drew in a ragged breath and let it out and tried not to throw up all over his clean black shoes. At least he had put that stupid flashlight down.

When breathing no longer spent waves of pain up her spine, she straightened and raked her hair back and looked at her savior. He was sitting opposite her on his heels, his flashlight trained on the floor. His eyes were dark and betrayed nothing.

"Can you stand?" he asked.

Mai wanted to tell him to ask her if she could _breathe,_ but she didn't. She tried to nod, but that made her even dizzier, so she stopped.

Naru studied her for a second before taking one of her hands and drawing it across his shoulder. He put an arm around her waist and slowly, gently - more gently than Mai could imagine an ice prince doing so - practically lifted her to her feet. Still, it was too much. Mai was more than a little dizzy by the time she was upright, and a lot in pain. She clutched Naru's shoulder, nails digging into his skin, but she could care less whether he would hate her for it later, because his arm was around her waist and his ribs were against her head and she could hear his pounding heartbeat and he was warm and strong and gentle and she loved him so much it hurt.

Then he turned to look at her, and she fell head over heels for him all over again. His face was cold and stone-like, but his eyes were different, and Mai wished she could read them, read _him._

She wanted to kiss him

"Can you walk?"

Mai cleared her throat and looked away. Did he know the effect he had on her? He was a genius - surely he must know?

"Yeah, I think so." Her voice came out throaty and coarse, and just saying those five words made her cough. "I'll open a door."

"No, you will not," came the immediate reply. "If you do, you might pass out. We'll walk there."

Mai didn't tell him she didn't think she could walk all that much. She didn't tell him she was sure she would faint if she took just one step. Instead, she thought of John - kind, sweet John - and his swollen, purple foot, the way he had walked with them all without complaining back to base after Mai had accidentally taken him to Naru.

She gritted her teeth. "Okay."

However, they had not gone two steps before a now horribly familiar wind whipped into their faces. Mai flinched and shrank against Naru's warm body.

" _You're not going anywhere, are you?"_

Naru remained eerily calm and didn't stop moving. He only swung the flashlight back and forth once, but there was nothing there.

" _No can do, little boy."_

And the floor fell away from beneath them.

* * *

Mai opened her eyes as something grabbed her wrist and almost jerked her arm out of its socket. Without Naru's flashlight, it was dark again. Her legs flailed in midair. Her heart thudded wildly, straining against her ribcage, and her arm was on fire.

"Mai, stop moving!" Naru's voice came from over her through clenched teeth. "Can you grab onto my leg?"

Mai found the fabric of his pants with her free hand and grabbed onto his leg.

"I'm going to let go of your wrist so I can grab the floor with with both hands. Ready?"

"Yeah." Mai assumed he had managed to grab hold of the floor when it had caved released her wrist and she quickly grabbed his leg with her other hand.

"Are you still dizzy?"

Mai felt so weak she was seeing yellow spots in the darkness. "A little," she lied.

"I need you to climb up me so you can reach the floor."

"Okay." How on earth was she supposed to do that?

"Grab onto my knee."

Mai gritted her teeth and struggled and strained and tried hard not to fail. Desperate tears filled her eyes. "Naru, I can't."

"That's fine. It's fine. You need to relax and stay calm."

Mai pressed her forehead against Naru's leg and swallowed her tears. After a minute, she lifted her head. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"I'm going to give you my hand and pull you up. When you're high enough, grab my waist. You can't miss, or we'll both fall. Understand?"

"Yeah," Mai whispered.

 _Don't mess up. Don't mess up._

Naru swung dangerously to the right and Mai gasped, but then a hand touched her hair, and she remembered what to do. She grabbed his forearm and was painstakingly pulled up a foot.

"Mai, now!"

Mai threw her arms around him, albeit awkwardly as she wasn't nearly high enough. Mostly she could only feel his hip bone and belt, but at least now she was up higher. She felt him strain as they swung wildly.

"Naru-"

"Shut up, Mai," he snapped through clenched teeth. Once they stopped swinging so much, he said, "Mai, I'm going to bend both knees. One, I'm going to push back so you can step on my calf, and the other I'm going to bring up front so you can step on my thigh. Can you imagine me kneeling like that?"

"Yes," she said in a small voice.

"Like I said, you're going to first put one foot onto my calf, then the other on my thigh, and boost yourself up. You should be able to reach the floor and push yourself up. Don't get on my fingertips. Understand?"

Mai squeezed her eyes shut but the yellow dots wouldn't go away. "Naru, I'm sorry," she croaked.

"Understand?" Naru repeated harshly.

"Yeah."

Naru's voice became soothing and calm again."On my mark. Three. Two. One. Now."

Mai struggled and they swayed and Naru's back leg bent too much when she put weight on it but it was enough to clamber onto his raised leg and then she could reach the floor, and she jumped onto her hands and pushed until she was over the top and collapsed on the floor. She sucked in deep breaths and then turned for Naru. "I can't see you, Naru."

"Sit on your heels and touch my hands. Don't grab them. I just need to know where they are. I'll grab your arms, so put your knee up to your chest and lean backwards when I grab your arm."

Mai drew her knee to her chest and felt for Naru's hands. They were icy.

One hand jerked upwards and caught her forearm and almost dragged her down, but Mai threw all her weight backwards. She grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked as hard as she could.

There was a splintering noise from underneath Mai.

"Mai, let go!" Naru shouted. He released her arm but Mai shot forward and grabbed it again.

"Crap," she muttered as the floor creaked again.

"Mai, let go of my arm, right now!" Naru demanded.

"Or what?" Mai retorted. She pulled again. Sweat ran down her forehead. She wasn't going to let him go. "You'll threaten my paycheck?"

"Or we're both dead!" Naru growled at her. "Let go and get out of here before the floor breaks!"

"We can both get out if you hurry!" Mai pulled harder, but he was resisting, and he seemed to get heavier by the second. "I'm not going anywhere so the least you could do is HELP ME!"

The wood dropped a few inches and Mai slid and lost her grip on Naru's shirt. She gasped and lunged for him. Tears of frustration filled her eyes.

"Mai, YOU IDIOT, PLEASE!" His voice wasn't calm anymore.

Was Naru begging? The great Oliver Davis, the Master Narcissist, the ice prince - _begging?_ Mai wished it wasn't so dark so she could see his face, but some stroke of luck had decided to save his dignity.

"MAI!"

"JUST SHUT UP YOU DAMN NARCISSIST! You can't see anything past yourself, so let _me_ tell _you!_ " Mai yelled. "If you're gone, there are other people out here who need you. Think of them! Heck, screw them! _I_ need you!"

Mai's face grew hot as she realized she had just confessed - again - and there were tears leaking down her face and probably onto Naru, but she didn't care, she wasn't going to leave, and she wasn't going to let him go.

She yanked hard on his shirt, and her little rant must have put some sense into the tea-loving jerk's brain, because he strained and struggled and grunted and the floor creaked and fell twice, but then he was there, he was up, and they were both collapsed side by side on the tilted floor panting, gasping.

" _Jack and Jill went up the hill,"_ sang an insane voice.

Naru grabbed Mai's arm and pulled her to her feet.

" _To fetch a pail of water."_

Mai stumbled dizzily against him. Her head hurt badly.

" _Jack fell down and broke his crown."_

Something slammed into Naru and he was yanked from her side into the direction of the hole.

" _And Jill came tumbling after."_

Mai didn't have the chance to leap for Naru, to try to grab for him, before a hand slammed into her back and pushed her into the darkness.

* * *

 **So, guys, I'm tempted to put up all of the rest of the story now while I still have some time, but I want you guys to be worried for them a little bit. I have to say, I really like the way the story's ending turned out.**

 **Sorry again about the long wait, I'll try to be better about posting chapters.**

 **For next time: If you're enjoyed this much of the story, you'll _really_ enjoy the next chapter, I promise.**


	20. And into the Fire

**I know, I know. I take forever.** **I swear I have a list of excuses that are really not very interesting.**

 **But no one wants to hear excuses! Let's get on with the story, shall we?**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. If I did, this first sentence would happen a lot more often.**

* * *

She fell on her boss.

He let out a grunt as all the air escaped him and she fought for breath and struggled to untangle her leg from around his ankle and crawl off him. He groaned and curled into a fetal position and breathed in horrible, rasping breaths and groans.

"Ohmigosh, Naru, I'm so sorry!" Mai cried. She could see him, now, in a little bit of light that seemed to come from nowhere. It was as if the house was mocking them. Now that it had them, there was no need for the cover of darkness anymore.

They were done for.

His dark hair was all over his face so she couldn't see his expression, but he was clearly in pain. She almost reached out to help him and then remembered her terrible blunder and sat awkwardly next to him as he wheezed.

"It's….fine," he managed. "Just...don't talk...so….much."

"Oh. Sorry!" Mai whispered. Her hands flew to her mouth and clamped down on it when she realized she was doing a bad job of listening to him.

She sat there listening to his painful breathing for what seemed like hours, silently regretting everything she had ever done in her life if it only lead up to this moment of putting Naru in such extreme pain. She should never have come along on this case. She should never have fallen asleep. She should never have accepted this job. She should never have been sitting in that classroom where she had first met Naru.

 _Naru,_ she thought absently. _Even beautiful now._

Eventually, he managed to press his forearms against the floor and push himself up into an awkward half-laying, half-bent position. He leaned over on one side and faced Mai.

"Stop looking at me like that," he muttered.

"Like-like what?"

"Like I'm some mental patient who'll bite your head off and collapse."

Mai didn't answer because she _had_ been thinking something along those lines. Instead, she asked, "Should I - should I help you sit up?"

"No." He gritted his teeth and pushed himself all the way up. "I can do it myself."

Mai raised an eyebrow and didn't comment on his gasping breaths.

Naru sat up next to Mai and leaned back against the wall that she hadn't noticed before in her anxiety. He leaned his head back against the stone and tilted his tired, beautiful face up to the hole in the ceiling, where a little bit light shone through from somewhere unknown and cast a halo upon his black hair.

Mai looked away, sick with love and heartbreak. She wanted to tell him so much it hurt but she respected Naru and didn't want to ruin the only thing they might ever have. He had rejected her once; he might not tolerate her a second time.

Her gaze fell upon his hand. It was scratched and red.

"Naru, you're bleeding!"

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious," he muttered.

"Hey, no need to be mean!" Mai protested. She took Naru's hand and he flinched but she uncurled his fingers and stared at the gash in his palm.

"Did you get this when we fell?"

"The first time."

Mai bit her lip. He had held her up when his hand was bleeding and scratched so deeply. He could have just dropped her and no one would ever know. She remembered the ribbon in her pocket and pulled it out. She wrapped it a few times around his hand and tied it with a viscous kot.

"DON'T do that again!" she scolded, and wiped her now-bloody hands on her jeans. "You should've just-"

"Dropped you?"

"Yes!" Mai said hotly. "Then I wouldn't be stuck down here with you. And there would be someone to go for help at least."

"First of all, Mai, I would still need someone to pull me up - I wasn't in that great of a position to pull myself up. My motives were purely selfish on that point. Second, how would I know the house would let me get help even if I did make it up? It's the demon's night, and he needs blood soon. And third, even if I _did_ get help, I wouldn't know where to find you again."

Mai sat, a little stunned at his little speech. He really thought things through, didn't he?

Nevertheless, she crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. "A simple 'I wasn't about to let you die all alone' would suffice," she grumbled.

"I was under the impression you were trying to get smarter, not simpler."

"UGH!" Mai stood up and stomped a few feet away. "I can't believe you! You stupid jerkface!" She imagined she was blowing out smoke through her nostrils and ears. How dare he?

"Why did _you_ pull me up then?"

"Because!" Mai said furiously, spinning around to look at him. "I need you! Everyone needs you! I can't go back...without you."

"That's just repeating what you said earlier in a moment of panic. Try to think with your brain. Rationally."

Mai wanted to scream at him that love wasn't rational, that she would jump off a cliff if he was doing the same thing, but she but her tongue and slumped down next to him.

"How did I get into that room?"

"You were sleepwalking. You opened a door from base and walked out. When I went after you, the door slammed shut on everyone else."

"Naru?"

He didn't answer, as was his custom, but Mai went on.

"I was dreaming when you were following me." Mai told him all that happened. At the end, she found herself clutching his sleeve in fright. "Naru, I'm scared for Gene."

"The idiot will be okay. Don't worry about him too much."

"Naru, if he's hurt, it's all my fault!" Mai's voice rose in terror.

Naru sighed and dislodged Mai's fingers from his sleeve so he could reach into his back pocket and pull something out. He pressed a black, compact mirror into her hands. He opened it and turned it so she could see Naru in the mirror. "He's there, Mai."

Mai stared hard at Naru's profile, as if she could will Gene's face into existence. However, nothing changed.

Then Naru's reflection smirked.

Mai clapped the mirror shut. "Naru!" she chided. "You can't fool me. I know who's who. You're a liar."

"It's not my fault Gene doesn't want to come and see your face right now."

"I hate you."

"You love your paycheck though."

"HEARTLESS JERK!"

"You're just sore that he won't come in the mirror for you."

"It's not like his smile is the one I want to see anyways," Mai muttered under her breath.

"Hmmm?"

"Nothing!" Mai yelped and pressed her hands to her heated face. "I just - asked why you smirked in the mirror."

"Just wondering whether you knew or not."

Mai thought it over. "Naru?"

Silence.

"Thanks for the mirror. Even if Gene didn't come. And even if you did try to cheat me."

"I can't have a hysterical assistant."

"You know what? I am never thanking you for anything ever again!"

They sat in silence, but Mai couldn't take it.

"Shouldn't we be getting somewhere?" she asked.

"Yes," Naru said sarcastically. "Let's start walking from the middle of nowhere until we get to the middle of nowhere, all the while cursing the lack of light and a less accident prone assistant."

"You're so mean! I'm just going to open a door."

"You won't be able to," Naru said flatly. "The demon is getting stronger by the second."

"We can't just sit here and wait to die!" Mai cried.

"If you just quit talking for one second maybe I could sit here in peace and think us a way out of here!" Naru finally snapped.

Mai scowled in the darkness and slumped in defeat.

In less than a minute, she spoke again. "Naru, what time is it?"

"It was 11:30 when we left base. Be quiet now."

"Fine, fine."

Not five minutes had gone by when Mai felt the urge to speak again. "How's your hand?"

"Horrible, now that you're talking again."

" _You're_ horrible!"

"I am merely stating a fact."

That kept Mai quiet for some time.

"It's getting cold."

"Maybe if you stopped wasting your breath saying useless things you'd be a little warmer."

Mai scooted closer to Naru. Hell if she cared what he thought of her at this point! She was freezing and he was only being mean about it.

A few more minutes went by.

Suddenly, a cold hand grasped her wrist.

"NARU!" Mai shrieked and grabbed for his arm.

"Mai," Naru said urgently. "Do not panic. Do not give in. Do you understand? The brain is the only weapon we have right now."

Something hauled them both to their feet and began dragging them through the darkness.

"Naru-"

"Mai, don't fight it. Don't waste your strength."

"It got so dark Mai couldn't see Naru. It terrified her. What if her dream came true? What if Naru disappeared completely like his brother had?

"Naru?"

"Yes?"

"Are you still there?"

"No," came the sarcastic reply. "The demon has found a recording to play for you."

Mai sighed in relief. If Naru was still able to insult her, everything was fine.

They walked forever, after which Mai was suddenly lifted and slammed onto her back on a hard, cold slab of stone.

"NARU!"

"MAI! Are you alright?"

"No, he's tying me down!"

Cords were wrapped around her legs, her arms, her waist, her chest, her forehead, and one especially taut one around her neck, holding her immobile against the cold stone.

"Naru?" she whispered weakly.

A hand stroked her forehead, cold and rough. " _Dear, Naru,"_ crooned a deep, creepy voice, " _can help you no more."_

Mai's voice caught in her throat. She couldn't even turn away from the hand on her head. She had never felt so violated in her entire life.

"NARU!" she screamed for the upteenth time.

A fire blazed up, blinding Mai. She closed her eyes and waited for them to adjust . When she opened her eyes again, she first looked for Naru. He was tied to a thick pole in the corner of the dark, plain room. His hands were bound behind him, and his face was pale and haggard.

"Mai don't look at the fire. It's the demon, you hear me?" Naru said, as if demons were something they dealt with on an everyday basis.

Mai let out a startled whimper on seeing the gruesome monster leaning over her. He looked exactly like what had been pretending to be Naru in her dream. She couldn't turn her head, so she squeezed her eyes shut at the sight.

The hand in her hair moved down to her face and then stroked her down to her neck. Mai trembled violently under the ghoul's rough, leathery touch and tried not think about how the hand was on her collarbone and didn't seem like it was going to stop.

"I have not had such a beautiful sacrifice in a hundred years," he whispered. His hand began to move down onto her chest.

Mai felt like she couldn't breathe. _Naru, please._

"STOP IT!"

Naru's voice was hard and tense and raw, as if anxiety had been building up inside of him and suddenly burst out of him.

The ghoul stopped and laughed. "Lovers always make better sacrifices."

Mai's face flamed and she looked anywhere but Naru. However, his voice was cold and unemotional.

"Don't touch my assistant."

"Only your assistant, eh?" He looked at Mai and smiled, revealing rows of blackened and rotted and missing teeth.

He leaned down then, closer and closer and didn't seem like he was stopping. Mai clamped her mouth shut and closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to breathe in his horrible breath.

His lips were too close and-

"DON'T TOUCH HER!" Naru roared.

Mai's eyes flew open just in time to see a piece of broken stone slam into the side of the ghoul's head. He fell to the floor.

Mai let out the breath she had been holding and screamed, "Naru, stop it, you're going to hurt yourself!" She couldn't know for certain in the firelight, but he looked whiter to her.

Before Naru could snap something caustic back at her, a cool, smooth voice was filling the room, deep and ancient. It chilled Mai to the bone.

"Ridiculous. Never trust mortals."

A man came into Mai's vision. Later, when she tried to describe him she couldn't remember. All she could remember was the hood that obscured the top half of his face and his obsidian eyes.

"Mai, don't look," Naru commanded sternly.

She accidentally looked into his eyes.

* * *

 **So, was it worth the wait?**

 **Hopefully it was!**

 **For next time: a short, sad chapter (and a longer one soon afterwards, do not worry!).**


	21. Reliving the Nightmare

**And the next chapter is up!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. If I did, I would somehow find a way to make Gene alive again**

* * *

In the vision, she saw a black car driving in the night down a deserted road.

Almost deserted.

There was a tall, black-haired boy on the road as well. Faint light from a lone street lamp graced his black hair and sat on his head like a halo. He smiled at her, a beautiful smile that never failed to warm her insides, a smile that suddenly turned to a look of terror as he saw the car speeding down the road.

 _NO!_

There was a sickening thud as metal and flesh collided. Mai tried to scream for help, tried to scream at the driver, scream for the boy, _just scream._

Someone got out of the car and poked the now-unconscious boy with their boot, as if he were nothing more than a few pounds of flesh. Her insides twisted as the driver got back in and started the car once more.

Suddenly, she was the one on the road, and she was delirious from pain. It hurt to breathe and it hurt to not breathe and it hurt to stay still and it hurt to move. She lay there helplessly as the car tires came towards her, shattering her ribs this time and crushing her organs. Then she was tossed into black, cold lake where she mercifully lost consciousness.

* * *

 **Okay, so maybe it wasn't that sad for you all, but Gene's death just makes me want to cry. It's just so pointless and horrible and I wish I could have seen Naru and Gene together in action or just together talking or arguing or anything. Did I mention I get attached to characters?**

 **Anyways, enough of that.**

 **Next up: ARE EITHER OF THEM GOING TO GET OUT OF THERE ALIVE?**


	22. Regrets

**Sooo here's the next chapter! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Sigh. I wish I did.**

* * *

"MAI!"

Tears leaked down her cheeks. Tears for Naru's parents, who had lost one son and might now lost another. Tears for Gene, who had been murdered without reason, who died in pain, who could never again warm his brother's closed-off heart.

And tears for Naru, who had lost the one constant in his life, the one who had been there since the beginning and should have been there forever till the end, the one whom he could confide in, draw strength from, love unconditionally and without fear of being let down. Tears for his broken heart and the gaping, ragged hole his twin brother had left behind.

"Mai," whispered the demon, low and deep. "A lovely name for a lovely sacrifice."

All of Mai's regrets came spilling out. All she wanted was for Naru to forgive her.

"Naru, I'm sorry I ran from Ayako and Lin earlier today."

"It doesn't matter."

"And I'm sorry I fell on you."

"Mai, calm down."

"And when I doubted you during the Rokoryu case."

"Mai-"

And when I yelled at you that you didn't know what it felt like to be killed during the Urado case."

"M-"

"And when I told Lin you bent that spoon at Yuasa high school."

"Mai-"

"And I just wanted to thank you for giving me this job even though I called you a jerkface at the end of your business at my high school, and for always believing me and in me. You've never laughed at me."

"MAI!" he yelled, cutting her off. "It's okay. Just relax."

Mai couldn't. "I just-"

"Enough," commanded the deep voice.

Metal slid over smooth metal. The hooded demon revealed a long, wicked sword that had been previously concealed in his cloak and now held it out in front of him. "Everything will begin anew tonight."

"Mai," Naru repeated, calm as ever. "Don't worry."

The demon laughed, loud and slow. It rang in her ears, filled every corner of her soul until she almost screamed for her mother.

"Yes, don't worry, Mai, dear," he drawled, so close to Mai's face she could almost see into his cloak. "It'll all be over soon. You cannot escape." He swung his sword. "This can cut through anything: stone, wood, iron. Flesh and bone cannot stop me."

"Mai," Naru said suddenly. Mai looked towards his face and tried to memorize it. If Naru got out of here, she might never see him again. She didn't want to lose him.

"It'll be okay," he assured her, his tone completely different. He was trying to tell her something…

"You'll be fine. I promise."

Promise?

Naru had never promised anything before.

The demon raised his sword.

Naru had promised her, but what did that mean? That her death wouldn't be too bad? Mai's heart beat madly against her ribs and she detachedly had the thought that she was now going to die.

Die?

" _NARU!"_ Mai screamed in terror. She didn't want to die! She wanted to live! She wanted to see Ayako and Monk and John and Lin and Masako again. She wanted to get into Todai University. She wanted to find the guts to confess to Naru again and demand a straight answer this time.

"Mai, it'll be okay. Gene's here."

And because Mai's emotions were extremely unstable at that point, her mind flashed back to the point at which she had confessed to him. At the time, she found his mentioning of Gene a roundabout way to reject her, but...did he truly believe having Gene there would make her feel better?

Angry and scared, she burst out, "It was never Gene! I need _you!_ "

The demon brought down the sword in a deadly, swinging arc.

* * *

 **What're your thoughts? *cheeky smile***

 **Anyone have any ideas as to how they'll get out of this one? Let me know what you think!**

 **For next time: IS NARU GOING TO SAVE HER OR WHAT?**


	23. Severely Anemic Cases

**Don't worry guys. Spoiler: Mai's going to live.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. If I did, I'm sure I would be so sad, because who just wants to write this great story all the time, and never read it themselves? Does that make sense, or am I just rambling now?**

* * *

Mai looked away. She wanted her last memory to be of Naru's eyes.

But it didn't happen that way.

There was a heavy, grating noise, and the stone slab underneath Mai moved backwards, away from the demon, at such an alarming rate that a breeze whipped into her face. She looked around wildly for the source of the disturbance and her gaze fell upon the demon.

He was holding his sword downwards, but it was on the floor, and his lips were turned down in a viscous frown.

"No!" he yelled, straining against it. Oddly enough, he didn't seem able to move from his position.

Mai squirmed and wished the bonds restraining her neck and head would disappear so that she could see, and, strangely, all the cords around her body suddenly vanished.

She immediately jerked up and off the altar, overjoyed and relieved to be free of the cold stone. She took in the scene before her: the momentum of the demon's swing had brought the sword crashing down to the floor when the altar she was on moved away. It had cleaved straight through the stone and was half-buried in some strange symbol.

 _She dreamed of a seal beneath the altar._

 _We need to efface the seal._

 _We may need to chip it or cut a few inches into it._

 _Naru._

"Naru!"

His bonds had disappeared as well, and without the ropes to hold him up, he was collapsed on the floor. Ignoring the screaming, cursing demon, she ran to him.

"We need….to get out….of here," he croaked. "Help me….up….the demon….can't stop….us."

Mai's head was spinning and a cold hand clenched her heart on seeing Naru gasp and wheeze, but she thrust away all semblance of coherent thoughts and hauled Naru to his feet. Everything around them began to unravel. The altar, the ropes, and even the demon turned to ash and crumbled before her eyes.

"Over there," Naru coughed, inclining his head towards a small opening in the cavern. Mai put his arm over her shoulders and tried her best not to hurt him as he limped alongside her.

Chunks of the ceiling fell as they walked. Twice Naru had to drag an oblivious Mai to the side, but they managed to make it to the narrow passage that led out of the cave. Not moments after they did, the opening caved in. Mai thought it was fitting, in a way. Now no one could ever return to that awful place and try to begin the cycle of horrors all over again. It was sealed forever.

Surprisingly, there was a little light in the tunnel they were in. Mai turned to look at Naru. Even in the dark, she could tell his eyes were unfocused. There was a sheen of cold sweat on his face, and he was shivering uncontrollably. She helped him sit down against the tunnel wall, knees slightly bent into his chest, and crouched down in front of him against his feet. She pressed her hands against his shoulders to hold him upright.

"Mai, are you alright?" he rasped, his bleary eyes searching her face. Mai wondered if he could see her at all.

At that last thought, the hands on his shoulders clenched into fists, squeezing his arms. "Why….WOULD YOU ASK THAT?" she screamed. Tears rose in her eyes and she pushed them down. "YOU IDIOT!"

Naru smirked a little, and Mai was so full of raw emotions she would have kissed his beautiful smile had he not been suddenly struck by a vicious bout of coughing. When it was over, he spat something dark onto the floor and wiped his lips.

"NARU!" Mai cried. "You're-"

"I'm sorry he touched you, Mai," he said softly.

Mai didn't answer for a moment because she was so scared for him at that point she was sure she would start crying.

"Naru," she said thickly, when she was sure she could control the tears for a few seconds. "You save me, you're - you're hurt and - YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT ME? _What the hell is your problem? You're dying_!"

And with that, it was out in the open. Mai was no doctor, but even she could tell what was happening to the 17-year-old boy in front of her. Her voice cracked and tears rose to her eyes and she didn't bother to stop one from slipping down her face.

"Mai….will you hold my hand?" he asked, clumsily putting his left one in her lap. "It feels a little numb."

"Numb?" Mai gasped, horrified. She grabbed it and held it tight in her right one. "It's so cold!"

"Extremities often become cold and/or numb in severe anemic cases."

She didn't want to ask, but she forced it out. "Do people….die….in….severe anemic cases?"

Naru coughed and spat more blood onto the floor and looked away from her. His voice was sad and soft, the most emotion Mai had heard in the year she had worked with him. "Sometimes."

Mai felt her breathing hitch. She imagined Naru's grave, Naru's headstone, Naru dead in a coffin, Naru's parents crying, Naru dying right before her eyes.

She couldn't breathe.

She couldn't breathe.

She couldn't breathe.

She couldn't-

"Mai, snap out of it!" Naru shouted, and Mai blinked and tried to suck in a breath.

"W-what?" she murmured faintly. She blinked again. How long had she been staring at him like that? She managed a breath and forced it out.

"Are you okay now?" he asked.

All of Mai's emotions were clogging up her throat, so she just shook her head and held his hand tighter.

"Mai…." Naru trailed off.

Mai looked up at him uncertainly, false hope blooming in her heart. Was he going to tell her how to get out of here? How to help him? How to save him?

"Did….you mean….what you said?"

Mai struggled for a second to follow his train of thought, and, suddenly, her own words came to her - clear and unforgettable.

 _It was never Gene! I need_ you!

Her face grew hot and the tears that were in her eyes began dripping down her face and onto his hand and knees and she didn't care, she didn't care, she couldn't take it anymore. She was so scared of losing him her terror came pouring out of her mouth.

"Of course it was true, you idiot! Idiot, idiot, _idiot!"_ Calling him an idiot made her feel slightly better, so she threw in a few more insults for good measure. "You're so dumb, you jerk! STUPID MORON! IDIOT! Who do you think I am? How could I love Gene? How - how could - I - "

She was crying so hard she couldn't get out another word, and because she was crying so hard, she almost missed his smile, the smile that she had ached so long for, the one that was now only meant for her and no one else.

It only made her sobs come even harder.

"Thank you, Mai," he whispered, and his voice was shaky but so full and content and she wanted to kiss him but she couldn't stop her pathetic trembling.

What did thanking her mean? Did that mean-

"Naru-"

"Mai, I need a favor."

"I'm - not -" she managed between sobs.

He coughed yet again and spat. There seemed to be more blood this time. "Tell Lin I was sorry."

" _Was?"_ Mai wheezed. She tried to muster up enough anger to talk, but her voice came out cracked and high-pitched and awful. "I will do no such thing! You will tell him yourself, you stupid jerkface! I'm not your servant or your in-between! I'm done being your damn slave! You need to do things yourself and I won't-"

"Mai." Was he smirking?

Mai had worked herself up enough to be able to reach up and wipe the tears from her cheeks. "What?" she whispered.

"It's okay to admit defeat."

"No!" Mai sobbed, all the progress that she had made yelling at him coming crashing down. "Don't - don't say….that -"

She rested her head against his knee and tried to catch her breath.

"P-p-please," she begged. "Please, N-naru."

Naru lifted his hand from his side and it was shaking badly. Mai lifted her face when she felt the whisper of cloth touch her cheek. Naru's hand was - was -

Clutching his chest as he coughed, harder this time. Mai sat there, frozen in her position, trying not to think about how this might be his last cough, his dying, rattling cough.

 _Come on, Gene, help me. Help him. Help him, please. Help Naru because I don't know what to do!_

But then the coughing was over, and Naru was still alive and spitting onto the floor.

"Do you feel….any better?" Mai asked, hoping against hope.

Naru smiled his beautiful smile in response, and this time, his hand did make it to her cheek. "Yes, Mai. Thank you."

And then he closed his eyes.

His hand began to slip.

And that was when she started to scream.

* * *

 **I AM DYING.**

 **Or is that Naru? ;)**

 **For next time: IS MAI GOING TO SAVE HIM OR WHAT?**


	24. The End

**This story's coming to an end, guys. Next chapter is the epilogue. Can you believe it? It makes me kinda sad. I really loved this story.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. If I did, I would run out of ideas for endings so fast. I really have no idea how the writer managed all those cool endings and explanations.**

* * *

Mai remembered her mother's funeral in a haze, but one thing she _did_ remember very clearly was when she saw her body in the coffin. She had suddenly had a brief moment of insanity in which she believed that her mother was alive - must be alive - and that they were going to bury her alive.

She had screamed at the top of her lungs until someone - a neighbor, who was a doctor she later found out - had slapped her across the face, jerking tears and reality into her. That had brought her to her senses, except then she had lost it all over again when she realized that her mother really was dead.

But there was no one now to slap her back into her senses. She went on screaming his name until it hurt, until she was hoarse. She went on screaming and screaming until she shook him a little and somehow, something clattered to the floor behind him and she jerked a little when she heard the noise. Her screaming came to a sudden halt.

It was the black compact mirror Naru had shoved into his pants pocket not an hour ago. Mai swallowed with difficulty - her throat hurt so bad she wasn't sure she could ever swallow anything again - and released the cold hand that she had been holding since Naru had asked her to. With her other hand she was still gripping the hand that Naru had put to her cheek only moments ago.

She picked up the mirror and held it, crushing it in her palm.

 _Come on, Gene, do something. Do something, please, DO SOMETHING._

She found that she wasn't just thinking it, she was shouting it, too, and when she realized that, she dropped the mirror and dropped Naru's hand and pinched both of her cheeks as hard as she could.

 _I am not crazy,_ she repeated to herself. _Get a hold of yourself. Get a hold of yourself. Gene's not going to come. You have to do it yourself!_

 _Myself._

 _Come on, Mai._

Mai took a breath and held it so she could momentarily stop her sobs. She took Naru's wrist in one hand and pressed her fingertips to it with the other. When she felt a weak, sputtering pulse, she allowed herself to let out her breath and then quickly sucked another one in. She held out her fingers under Naru's nose and tried to feel for any sign of breathing, but her head and heart were both pounding so hard she wasn't sure if it was wishful thinking or some cold draft in the tunnel or his actual breaths, so she quickly gave up and then sat back.

She took one of his hands in her own and squeezed it, trying to rub life into it as she thought.

 _Think, Mai! What would Naru do?_

Naru would already have the answer thought out ten minutes beforehand, she thought regretfully.

 _Focus._

 _Focus!_

 _FOCUS!_

Naru would use his PK. What did she have?

 _I am a latent psychic._

 _I have crazy but real dreams._

 _Gene helps me._

 _He guides me through the house._

 _I can bend the house to my will._

Something was escaping her.

There was an answer there, somewhere - surely there had to be. Naru himself had taught her there was answer to anything.

What was it?

She didn't know how long she sat there, trying to think. She wasn't going to risk falling asleep to ask Gene what to do - she might lose Naru that way. She kept a thumb against his pulse, breathing in ragged breaths and swallowing hard to stop the tears. Tears weren't going to help Naru come back.

Hesitantly, she reached out and brushed away the damp, black strands away from his face. His face was still warm, and it gave her hope. Dead bodies were cold, weren't they? Naru was okay.

He was okay.

He had to be okay.

He was, wasn't he?

Mai pressed her forehead to his knee to stop a fresh wave of tears. If only Gene were here. If only he had never died. She remembered that Gene and Naru used to bounce their PK off each other until there was enough. She ached for Gene to be alive and well, not for herself, but for the gaping, ragged hole in Naru's life.

His pulse fluttered under her thumb and her breath hitch unsteadily until it resumed its weak beating. She wanted to press her own life into him, give him everything she had. She would give her life for him if only -

There was the answer.

She had been wishing it this whole time, when she _could._ She _could_ press her own life into him.

 _Master of Manipulation, eh?_

She had rolled her eyes then, at Monk's offhand, goofy comment, but now she gripped Naru's arm tight, clinging to that one remark. If she could manipulate the house's energy to do her bidding, she could use her own, too, couldn't she?

Carefully, she put a hand on Naru's chest, above his heart, and allowed his warmth to seep into her fingers. She remembered him just a few hours ago with his arm around her waist, when he had saved her in the dark. He had been firm and strong and warm.

Mai squeezed his hand, and this time, she wasn't calling for Gene.

 _Naru, help me_.

She summoned all the little butterflies he gave her when he looked at her, when he was kind to her when no one was there. She gathered up all the weaknesses she had for him, the flush that rose to her face when she thought of him. She imagined herself as full of warmth and light, and of all of it flowing into Naru until he was no longer cold and weak. She imagined him filling with her warmth as it left her. She felt herself grow a little dizzy as she did, but Naru's pulse seemed to grow stronger against her thumb, and it gave her hope. She kept pressing her strength into him until she was exhausted and weak, until his breath was warm against her cheek and his heart beat strong under her fingers.

She smiled a little to herself, weary and dead tired. She had done it. Screw the stupid demon. She had brought Naru back from the edge of death.

Then black spots clouded her vision, and enshrouded her in darkness.

* * *

 **Aw. I loved that chapter. Naru gives me little butterflies too.**

 **I just felt like Naru had been saving Mai this whole time, so she needed to go rescue her own Prince Charming too. A girl who's always the damsel in distress is no fun.**

 **For next time: Are they going to get together? You guys decide!**


	25. Epilogue

**And here's the last chapter! Make sure to read my little ramble at the bottom if you liked this fanfiction because I'll be leaving the title of the next story in this series down there.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. If I did, I would hire myself to write novels for the manga, because this was just too much fun to write.**

* * *

The first thing that she heard was the incessant beep of something close to her head. She wished someone would turn it off. She couldn't sleep with it constantly interrupting her slumber. She struggled to open her eyes or her mouth or shake someone with her hand and tell them to turn the stupid beeper off, but she was too tired.

Voices came to her, too harsh, too loud. She winced and squirmed away from them. Something pressed her arm. It hurt, and she wanted to cry out, and the beeping was getting too loud and too fast, but then there was a brisk, hard, female voice, and the pressure left her arm. The beeping faded away, and she gratefully succumbed to the darkness again.

* * *

The next time she woke up, it was because of an awful nightmare. She couldn't move in the nightmare, couldn't see, couldn't hear, but something kept hurting her. Something that had been in the house. She couldn't remember what house, but there had been a house. She struggled against her state of unconsciousness before that hideous beeping started up fast and ugly in her ear again, getting faster and faster. It angered her and terrified her more than the last time. Someone yelled something, and thundering footsteps came close. Pain blossomed in her arm, and as it faded away to a throb, she passed back into a blissful, dreamless haze.

* * *

When she awoke for the third time, she felt much better. There were no nightmares, there was no pain. The incessant beeping was there, but if she focused on her breathing, she could drown it out.

Someone was stroking her hair gently. The hand was familiar and warm, and Mai was comforted. They moved to fix her blankets and then rested a hand on hers. Mai laid silently for a few minutes, not wanting to get up but knowing that if Ayako was there she would want to know what had happened.

What had happened...

Was Naru okay?

Was he?

Mai's eyes shot open. The beeping sped up and threatened to overwhelm her senses, too loud in her ear.

"Ayako!" she cried without thinking and squeezed her eyes shut. "Turn it off!"

Except her mouth and throat were so dry it came out as _Aio, urn itof._

"MAI!" a different voice screamed at full volume. Mai winced as her head began to pound.

"Shut up, idiot!" Ayako hissed. "Control yourself!"

A hand clutched her arm tight. "Mai, talk to me, are you okay?"

Mai opened her eyes slowly. Light poured into them, blinding her. She shut them and tried to open them again. "I'm fine, Monk. No need to be so over-dramatic."

"Over-dramatic?" he asked, utterly bewildered. "You-you've been...dead…."

It wasn't so much his words as the tears in his eyes that suddenly terrified Mai. Her terror was short-lived, however. From nowhere, Ayako's bag materialized and smashed into Monk's forehead. He pitched backwards and fell hard on the floor, where he sat groaning and muttering angry things about the shrine priestess.

Ayako took his spot and put her gentle hands on either side of her face. "Mai, baby, are you okay? How are you? Feeling nauseous? Can you see me? Any double-vision?"

Mai shook her head. "I'm fine. Just a headache." She tried to shift and turn towards Ayako but found her hand stuck. She looked over and her eyes bulged out of her head.

"N-Naru!" she gasped.

He was sleeping in a chair at her side with his head on the edge of the hospital bed and his arms folded beneath his cheek. Her hand was caught under his arms.

"Yeah, that's him," Ayako said wearily. "He's been here the whole three days. He was turning into such a zombie that I gave him a sedative."

"Three days? Sedative?" Mai looked wildly between Ayako and Monk. "What happened?"

"Long story short, we found you and Naru passed out. We took you both to the hospital. Naru woke up on the way, you didn't. Everyone's been freaked out," Monk said in a rush. He crawled up to her bedside, massaging his head. "So tell me you're okay!" he wailed.

"Shut up!" Ayako's bag swung into his shoulder. "Mai has a headache, and Naru is sleeping! Do you have _any_ common sense?"

"I'm just relieved," Monk grumbled, pulling himself to his feet. He leaned over quick and kissed Mai on the cheek. "I'll be right back. I gotta make some phone calls."

"I'll be right there, too," Ayako told him, and then turned back to Mai. She clutched her hand tight and smoothed her sheets restlessly. "Are you sure you're okay, Mai?"

"I'm fine, Ayako, I promise. No double vision."

Ayako held her hand a little tighter. She sounded desperate. "For real, Mai."

Mai took in her worried expression, the bags under her eyes, her terror, the careful clutching of her hand as if she might break it. She took a deep breath and blurted out, "I'll come home with you, Ayako."

Ayako suddenly met her eyes and looked at her sharply. "You better not just be saying that."

"I'm not."

Ayako's tiredness seemed to melt away. Her shoulders relaxed and her eyes became a little wet. She pressed Mai's hand against her forehead. "Thank you, Mai," she whispered, and Mai knew she wouldn't regret her decision. Ayako leaned forward to kiss her forehead and smoothed out her hair. Then she leaned away and patted her cheek, her eyes suddenly mischievous.

"Kiss him, Mai," she whispered, grinning widely.

Mai felt anxiety slowly spread through her. "Um, what-"

Ayako looked like a madwoman. "He loves you. He hasn't left your side at all. Lin tried to drag him away once, and he broke something with his PK."

"Ayako, I-"

"Don't be worried, Mai," Ayako murmured, and she left with a swish of her skirt.

The door closed behind her.

Mai was alone with her extremely hot and jerky boss.

She swallowed hard. He was knocked out, wasn't he? When had Ayako given him that sedative? Had she mentioned how long it had been? No - that didn't matter. Nothing was going to happen even if he woke up! Normal. Everything was normal. Totally normal.

Except her hand was falling asleep.

She tried to bear it for as long as she could, hoping against hope that Monk or Ayako would come back in and save her, but if she knew anything about those two, it was that they wouldn't.

Finally, the pins and needles drove her to start gently pulling her arm out from under him. She made it all the way out without any incident and was just heaving a sigh of relief when he stirred.

 _No, no, no, no!_

Mai panicked, and the heart monitor attached to her finger sped up. She forced herself to take deep, slow breaths and focus on his deep and even breathing, the way his back rose and fell slowly.

 _Slowly._

She had to get that heart monitor off her finger.

He rose slowly and blinked at her once sleepily with a calm, gentle expression on his face before he recognized her and a curtain came down over his eyes. He brushed himself off and pushed away from the bed.

"You're awake," was all he said.

Mai deflated a little. She had been expecting more of a 'I'm-so-glad-you're-awake' remark. But who was she kidding? This was Naru the emotionless Narcissist.

"Yeah, I am."

There was an awkward silence in which Mai suddenly remembered the feeling of his hand on her cheek, the way his slim fingers rested against her face. She turned red and tried to ignore the rapid increase in the incessant beeping of the heart monitor. It was giving her away!

She had to say something, get her mind off that.

"I heard Ayako sedated you," she said, a small smile tugging at her mouth.

"Yes. It was not enjoyable."

Mai rolled her eyes. "It's not supposed to be enjoyable."

"I was aware of that."

Another awkward silence in which Naru's thank you to her confession rang in her head. She wished she could yank that damn monitor off her finger.

Naru's head whipped in the direction of the beeping machine. "Mai, are you alright? Should I call the doctor?"

"No, no," Mai said quickly, and tried to squish the butterflies in her stomach. It was easier to think of kissing him when his voice was soft and his smile was sweet and he was dying. She couldn't remember now why she had ever thought such a thing because now his voice was hard and his expression was cold and his eyes were closed off and it hurt.

"I am glad you are okay," she said hesitantly, not knowing how to reach him, how to reach _inside_ of him and yank the nice Naru back out, the Naru she had seen down in the tunnel.

Naru only grunted noncommittally.

Mai sighed and sank into her bed. "Well, I _am_ glad!" she said forcefully. "I was so worried about you. You were kind of breathing, but then…I don't know, Naru. It was like you were slipping away while I watched."

Naru abruptly stood up and turned and in that instant, Mai thought she was going to lose him all over again and she grabbed him by the sleeve and yanked him so he sat back down hard on his seat. She was so terrified he would yank away from her again that she didn't loosen her grip and rushed over her words.

"Naru, can you - I mean -" Mai sucked in a deep breath. Any second now he would tear away from her. She clutched him tighter. "I thought you were going to die!" she blurted out, not knowing what else to say.

She thought she must have said the wrong thing because he removed her hand from his sleeve, but he didn't move. He stared at her blankets blankly. "I thought you were going to die, too."

Mai almost giggled at how emotionless someone could be when talking about death and then controlled herself. Maybe the morphine was getting to her. She sucked in a breath and forced a straight face.

He murmured something, and Mai strained her neck forward to hear him. "What, Naru?"

He turned to look at her, and his expression was contorted. "How could you?" he hissed.

"How could I what?"

"How could you do something without any prior practice or knowledge as to what would happen if you did it? What kind of logic is that?"

Mai hardly understood what he was saying past his huge complicated sentence, but suddenly, her mind flashed back to when she had pressed every last ounce of her energy into the boy in front of her. The boy she was head over heels in love with. Her face flushed with frustration. Was he that dumb?

"How could I not?" she demanded. "How could I - when I - when you -"

Her angry flush turned into an embarrassed one.

"When I-" She couldn't get it out of her mouth. Not again. Not a third time.

But Naru - cold, arrogant Naru - did it for her. "When you meant it?"

The monitor sped up again. "I - well - I mean, it's -" Mai stumbled over her words, trying to think of an acceptable answer when she decided she had had enough. She threw up her hands. "Of course, Naru! What do you think? No - don't answer that, you jerk! You almost died and you don't know how worried and desperate I was! I would've done anything! And you - you -"

She had him by the front of his shirt before she realized it and was panting in his perfect face. _And you don't even know how much I love you_ was on the tip of her tongue but she couldn't get it out, couldn't confess.

 _Kiss him, Mai._

 _The hell with it_.

She kissed him then, kissed him long and hard, trying to memorize the feel of his cheek and his mouth and the little breath that he let out when their lips met. She tried to memorize the warmth of his face and the way she could feel his heat through his shirt and the way her knuckles rested against his chest as she gripped his collar. She tried to memorize the way she could feel his heartbeat in his mouth, in her own mouth.

She broke away and released his shirt, shoving him back a little in her embarrassment, trying to look anywhere but Naru.

She had just lost all self-control.

This was not going to end well.

She was going to die.

"I'm sorry, Naru!" she cried. "Please don't fire me! I mean, I wouldn't blame you, but I really love researching this stuff and learning new things and working with everyone and -"

"Mai." Naru's voice cut in, soft and slow. She turned to look at him to find that he was - smiling a little? "I'm not going to fire you."

"Oh." Mai relaxed and then tensed up and looked away again. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

The heart monitor began its traitorous beeping again.

"If you really meant it about me and Gene-"

It beeped faster.

"I did."

"Then don't be. Unless…" His breath caught. "You won't do it again."

Mai could feel her face turning purple. The blood was roaring in her ears so loudly she could no longer hear the monitor.

"Mai, you need to control your breathing or the doctor is going to come in."

"Naru!" Mai whined, the awkward moment gone. "Why do you have to do that? You always ruin your nice moments!"

"Mai, the doctor is Ayako."

Mai's heart dropped. "Oh, no."

Just as Naru predicted, Ayako burst in at that moment, followed by Monk and Yasu. "NARU!" she yelled. "WHY DID I GIVE YOU A SEDATIVE? YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ANTAGONIZING HER!"

Naru stood up and walked away from her bed. "She is antagonizing herself," he said coolly, and walked out the door.

Mai stared after him sadly, a little disappointed at the way he could go back to his cold, demeaning self to quickly. Had she really just kissed him?

Had she?

Had it even meant anything to him? Did he indirectly tell her to do it again?

"Mai."

"Mai!"

Ayako was calling her name.

Mai blinked. "Yes?"

"Are you alright? Did anything happen?"

Mai turned maroon and looked anywhere but Ayako. Could she tell? Was there something on her lips? Her face?

"N-nothing!" she squeaked.

Ayako suddenly grinned. "You kissed him?"

Mai clapped her hands to her heated face. "I didn't mean to!"

"WHAT?" Monk hollered. "YOU DID _WHAT_?"

"I swear I didn't mean to!" Mai cried. "It just - I mean -" She looked at Ayako accusingly. " _You_ told me to!"

"And look where it got you," Ayako said smugly. "Everything's fine. He's not going to fire you."

Mai looked at her in horror. "You were listening?"

"Yeah," Ayako said offhandedly, "but I didn't think you would kiss him that fast."

"I did!" Yasu said excitedly. He turned to Monk. "I win."

Mai slumped down into her bed and tried to drown herself in the white hospital sheets. "I hate all of you."

"You love Naru though."

Mai groaned.

* * *

She was released from the hospital later that day. Not surprisingly, Naru was nowhere to be seen, but since Lin had come in to see her, Mai supposed he had to be close. She ached to see him, to force him to give her a straight answer, to know even if it meant that he would tell her kissing her had been a mistake and he didn't want her.

She went back to SPR the next day to find it empty save for Naru and Lin, with Naru holed up in his office, furiously typing away. He didn't ask for tea, not having heard her come in, but she made it anyway. She first left Lin a cup on his desk and then went in to see Naru.

He glanced up at her when she came in and then went back to typing. Mai was a little put off, but she had kissed him once and he had asked her to do it again, and she wasn't going to give up until she did.

She left the teacup away from his laptop where it wouldn't tip over and ruin his oh-so-important research. When she lingered, he looked up at her questioningly.

"Is there something -"

But Mai was at his side in that instant, and one hand was on his shoulder, pushing him so his chair turned to face her and she leaned down, kissed him quick on the mouth, and then hastily stepped back. Her heart was in her throat and her stomach was in her chest and her brain probably somewhere in her toes but she plastered a defiant expression on her face and forced herself to look at him.

He looked…a little sad. She silently waited for him to speak.

He sighed a little. "Mai," he began, and fixed his eyes on a spot beyond her head. "I can't be him."

Mai snorted and tried not to laugh at the ridiculousness of his statement. "Obviously."

"And I don't know the first thing about - about…you know."

"I know."

"And I'm a narcissist."

"That was never a problem."

"And I'm married to my work."

"Oh, well."

"And I can't always be kind and mushy for you."

Mai stuck her nose in the air. "I'll make you be."

Naru looked at her now, and a small smile tugged at his lips."So if you really -"

"Shut up, Naru," she said fiercely, and kissed him again, and this time, he kissed her back.

* * *

 **Oh. I just feel like a huge mushy ball of...mush.**

 **Fast fact: this is the first ever not-short-story that I have finished writing to completion because it's just so hard to figure this stuff out.**

 **Thanks to everyone who reviewed/read/helped me out in general with this story. A special thanks to The Night Whisperer, who left me a review on every single one of my chapters and really made me feel like I was doing something right, and thanks to all those who left comments when I had questions about uploading pictures and errors and just basically everything about using this site.**

 **It has been a fun six months and I really am looking forward to writing the next story! It won't be as intense or as long as this one because I really put my heart and soul and every last idea of mine into "The Tanaka House Terror," but for those of you who do you want to read it, I've put up the first chapter of "Doubles at the Daichi Hotel."**

 **I'm off to fix all those grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors I made in writing this story because I was rereading a few chapters and there were a TON of errors. Sigh.**

 **Peace out!**


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